I thought I might fall asleep early tonight. It is after 11pm, so I was wrong. I feel good that I got in a good workout tonight and I'm looking forward to going back to the gym tomorrow for another run. It just feels good.

When did that happen? I never thought I'd say that running feels good. But it really does.

I have so many things to do tomorrow, that I am nervous I am going to forget about about. I might end up sending myself an email to make sure I remember everything. Plus, that might help settle my mind before I try to sleep.

Still can't believe that 2010 is almost over, but SO proud of everything I accomplished this year. I really am excited to see what next year brings. I don't know if I have ever been this opptomistic about the future. The possibilities are just so exciting!

Ok, time to send me an email at my work email and try to head to bed! Nite!

Blizzard of 2010 hits

We got SLAMMED with snow last night. Glad I had today as a vacation day. I took a few pictures, mostly to help out my landlord. A tree in our yard took out the deck of the neighbors house and landed on their tenants cars. Nice!!
Here's a bit of what it looks like.

Happy Medium?

Even though I don't pay for heat in my apartment, I appreciate that oil is crazy expensive and my landlords are on a limited budget. If I'm working all day, my cats are fine in my house with the temps hovering around 66 degrees. SO when I leave in the morning, I turn down the heat.

It was set at 66 when I finally made it home tonight from the gym around 7:30, except the actual tempeture was at 63! 63 DEGREES! And this was after I worked out, cooled down, then walked outside in the SNOW! I come home, go inside and it is 63 degrees! I grab that thing and turn it up to 70 to warm my house up.

Nothing. I play with it some more, take the cover off, flick it around. Nothing.

I sat on the sofa, at the sandwich I bought on my way home, wrapped up in a blanket. FREEZING!

Got up again. STILL 63 degrees. Played with it again. Nothing.

At 8pm, when my figures were numb, I called downstairs to my landlord, apologized for bothering her and said that it was 63 up here. She said she'd take care of it.

Yay! The heat kicked on. I set it at 68, knowing that it would take a bit for the actual heat to reach the thermastat before it shut back off.

Um, ya, no. Now it is 73 degrees in my house! WHAT THE HELL! And the heat is still on! I turned it back down, spun it down to 50. Now the friggin heat won't shut off! :(

Wait... silence! Did my heat just shut off??? NO way! I think it might have! Good, cuz now I need to go find my chap stick and grab some more water! I'm freakin sweating now!

It is 11:30 and I am still awake. I am so afraid that I won't sleep well again tonight! I'm sick of not sleeping! This is now going on week 2. :( I'm not sure what else to do about it. I'm hoping that after Christmas, my body just has enough and lets me sleep.

You'd think with running 3 miles then swimming 1 that I would be so exhausted I would just fall asleep! NO! Of course not. I'm awake!

I'm nervous to go to bed because I don't want to be up again, but I know I have to try.

Otherwise... happy I ran and swam today. Love seeing the progress. Getting easier to go to the gym. I'm glad I went with Betsey a few weeks ago. Nice way to kind of ease into it. I just need to remember to pack a bag again and go straight from work tomorrow. SO much easier then stopping home first. And I know it is going to be crappy out again tomorrow, so still inside running while the roads are a mess... at least for this week.

I'm still working on figuring out the best way for me to train for the marathon. I have a few different training schedules, but I really like what I've been following for the 1/2 in February. I want to stay on that schedule and just pick up the mileage after that race.

I'll need to figure out the best way to combine a few different schedules for what works for me. I know I'm a begining runner. I did 15 miles last week and only 3 so far this week with skipping last night. With tomorrow at hopefully 5 and Friday at 6, I'd still be lower this week than last, but that's ok. I skipped a day! :)

And then on New Years I have another race, my first 10K. But I'm really not too worried about it. I'll have to see how I do Friday when I run the 6 miles, but I think I'll be ok. Then next week I'll have to do 5 on Monday and Wednesday to make sure I'm ready, and that I have my mileage and endurance up.

This is kind of interesting! We'll see! :)
ok, I'm going to try for bed. fingers crossed I actually sleep tonight.

My yearly review

I went to grab my old journal that I occasionally write in. This is the journal I have used for with all of my classes with the life coach I worked with for years. I pulled it out to see what I wrote last year when I did my end of year review and my look ahead at the next year.

Every year, I go through her questions and journal about what worked and didn't for the past year and what I want out of the coming year as well as naming your year for a theme. The questions I answer are from her website, an entry she wrote years ago:

http://www.joancollinscoach.com/cb1207.html

At the end, she says to look into your crystal ball and to write a letter to yourself date for December 31st of the NEXT year. And make that letter a review... so I'm planning on writing a new journal entry in 2 weeks dates December 31, 2011.

Tonight I pulled out what I wrote last year. And I really did do this on New Year's Eve last year! And I wrote out a couple of pages on my section dated 12/31/10. Many didn't come true. Who knew the changes that would take place at work. I haven't passes two CPCU exams.. but I am due to register for one the beginning of January. My finances are still the same, but my apartment IS great.

I also wrote, "Over the year I have developed some great relationships. These are friendships I will have for years to come." Well, that has SO come true! I'm really happy with that part of 2010!

I had named 2010 my "Year of Fitness". WOW, was it ever! :) And in my 12/31/10 letter I also wrote about that and how I ran in a few 5K's. (actually, I did 9 road races this year, but who was counting!) Then I wrote, "Who knows, I could do a marathon soon! :)" WOW! How freaky is that?? I actually wrote that a year ago! I'm BLOWN away!

I ended my letter with:

I love the direction my life is taking. I am so happy. I have amazing friends, a great job, I'm healthy and in the best shape I have ever been in my life! Life is great & 2010 was amazing!

Damn. 12 months ago, I don't think I could have ever realized how true that one sentence could really be. That's just nuts!

Even my weight. I wrote in my journal that the morning of 12/31/09 my weight was 140.6. I didn't weigh myself today but yesterday I was 125.4. And on January 1st of 2009, I was 159.2. Holy crap! I really did lose 35 pounds! WOW! I am healthy and in the best shape I have ever been in my life!

I'm just dumbfounded by things I said 12 months ago. And how true they really ended up being. Who knows, I could do a marathon soon?? Really?? I wrote that 12 months ago, as I am waiting to hear if I am going to be accepted onto Team Eye and Ear for the 2011 Boston Marathon? As I went out today for a 5 mile run for my 1/2 marathon training? I wrote that 12 months ago? When I had only done one 5K and walked for at least half of it? When I wrote that I was going through rounds of cortisone injections into my spine for a bulging disc in my neck? And in the back of my mind there was a possibility that I wanted to do a marathon? HOLY CRAP!

I just think this is cool. I LOVE this journal exercise more than any other. I wish I knew where I had written the year before. I have the past 2 New Years but I don't know what journal I was writing in before that or where I would have it. Gotta find it. That would be cool too.

If 2010 was this amazing, I have no idea what 2011 could be like. I'm already setting some goals, but really? A marathon? What could I name next year? If I'm planning for the marathon, how could I top that? What else could I achieve? So many possibilities! :)

I finally slept in!

It was a tough week with not sleeping. I was SO tired. Even last night, I just couldn't fall alseep! This morning I woke up a few times, but I refused to look at the clock and refused to let myself wake up. I ended up getting up just before NOON! I haven't done that in years. I honestly don't remember the last time I did that.

I'm still a bit sleepy if that is even possible! I'm going to just lay on the sofa for a bit and slowly try to wake myself up. I think coffee is in order too.

My long run today is 5 miles but I am going to try for 6. Hard to go out and just do it. I did www.mapmyrun.com and found a route near my house. I knew one block was a mile. Then found a loop that is 2.2. SO I am going to do the 2.2 loop twice and then decide. The one mile or another loop of the 2.2.

Then for the rest of today I get to be LAZY! I'm really looking forward to that! :)

I need to get out Joan's year review so I can start thinking about reviewing 2010 and seeing what I want for 2011. I know naming 2010 worked out perfect for me. It was the year of fitness. Um, ok. That worked! :)

I'm freaking out that I have to wait until tomorrow to find out about the marathon! I don't know if I've been accepted yet. URGH! It is KILLING me. I'm not a very patient person! :)

Tonight was awesome at the pool. For the first time I was able to get in a full mile of swimming! I can't believe it! And I just swam for the first time maybe a month or so ago! Crazy!

It is so unbelievable how far I have come with fitness. I never ever thought I would be where I am at. I have run 10 miles this week, swam almost 2 miles, and taken a yoga class. And it is only Thursday! How did I get here??? When did this happen? And I'm freaking out that I might NOT be able to run in the Boston Marathon?? Are you kidding??? When did the idea of me running in the marathon even become a possibility? HOLY COW!

Just funny to think back at where I was when I started this blog. I never did anything, I was home all the time with very few local friends and I weighted around 160 pounds! Now?? I am NEVER home, and exercise about 6 days a week, I have a TON of local friends and today I was actually concerned because my weight was UNDER 125 pounds and I am trying to stay above that. (I was 124.6 this morning). Oh how has my life changed.

Many relationships in my life have changed or even ended during this process. I know that I have changed, not only my lifestyle, but WHO I am. Different things are now important to me. I talk about my workout ALL the time cuz I love it. And my friends are people who also like to have fun with fitness.

Tonight at the pool, I invited a few more people to meet up Sunday at 11am and then decided since I don't have yoga on Tuesday night, another swim would be great. SO we are meeting Tuesday night at 7. And I'm taking Zumba on Sunday morning with my friend Kim before going to the pool. This is my life now. My social life is now filled with fitness events as well.

And I think that is SO great. First of all, it is WAY cheaper! I get to go out, have fun, see people, be social and NOT spend a ton of money. I mean tonight I was at the pool for about an hour and half. Um, FREE! And same thing on Sunday and Tuesday. Zumba class is 9-10:30 and that's only $10! Monday night and Wednesday night I'll be running. Not sure yet of where, the track or the gym... depends on the weather.

But I have friends who go to my gym too... last week I hung out with Betsey at the gym and we ran 3 miles and chatted the whole time. This is my life now.

I'm not a party drinker anymore. I don't really drink and I don't want to feel like crap from drinking and being hung over. And now, especially if I am training for a freakin MARATHON, I can't drink. I can't do that. I need to really watch what I do, what I eat and how I fuel my body.

Speaking of that... I was thinking of calling my doctor after I hear about the marathon, if I get accepted. I wanted to ask her about it. She's a runner, so it would be to get the medical approval and all that, plus I'd really like to see a nutritionist. I know I could eat so much better! I am snacking on almonds and a glass of skim milk, so not super bad, but overall it could be better. And I know I don't eat enough. I'd like to see a sports nutritionist to make sure I am getting the right balance during training to keep me going.

WOW I have a lot! :)

After 3 nights now of little sleep, hoping I can get ONE good one in tonight, so logging off early to hopefully crash. Pretty tired right now.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow... yeah RIGHT, like I'll be able to sleep waiting for this decision! This is why I sent it in today. I didn't want to have to wait for a decision over the weekend! THAT would KILL me!

Confusing ALREADY!

Having 2 blogs is going to be SO confusing now! WOW! I just finished writing about my training today and all the possible marathon stuff and ended up posting it here when I thought I was posting it on the Julie Runs Boston page! URGH!

But today was good. Work was insane. I'm exhausted. 2 nights in a row I didn't sleep well. I'm hoping tonight I will. The run I did was awesome.

Realized how insanely broke I really am and this SUCKS! I have NO money right now at ALL. And nice, this is my no pay check week! JOY! I'll figure something out, I always do, but it still sucks. Not to mention I haven't done half my Christmas shopping! :(

Ahh... ok more on line crap to do before I make it to bed early tonight. No more still being up when Jay Leno comes on!

New Blog

I started a new blog tonight. After receiving the application to join the Mass Eye and Ear team for the Boston Marathon, one of the questions was asking if I had a blog. So I started a new one which will focus only on my running and training. (the rest of my bitching and life will continue here!) ;)

I can't believe that this is really a possibility!! OH MY GOD! Am I really doing this!

My new blog is www.JulieRunsBoston.blogspot.com So if want to know more on the training... check that out! :)

And the sign says....

Monday's are busy every week, so work was the same as expected.

After work I ended up meeting Kristin at the track and getting in a 4 mile run. It was at a pretty good pace and I felt good the whole time. It was nice to have the weather back at 45 degrees to run. My favorite running weather. Who knew I'd have favorite weather?? :)

While I was at work, I approved a new member on the fitness meetup. She manages the Mass Eye and Ear Marathon team and has a few spots left. I thought.. hmm.. someday.

Then I got home from my run and checked my email. The local theater in the town I grew up in sent out an email. They were again given 6 spots to the marathon. His email said that qualifying spots were gone in 8 hours!! 8 HOURS! But he has 1 spot left on his team. $5000 is the required amount to be raised.

Since the new person on my fitness group has a few spots open, I emailed her my questions. If I am currently training for a 1/2 Marathon on February 20th, would I have enough time to be ready for Boston? And what is the amount required to raise. And does she have a training schedule?

Boston has always been on my bucket list. I always said that someday I wanted to do Boston. But qualifiers filled up in 8 hours? And that's AFTER they got a qualifying time? I would NEVER get in.

And then, just as I am starting to feel comfortable with running more often and adding some more distance to my runs, TWICE in the matter of hours, I hear of spots on not one, but TWO different teams to run in The Boston Marathon?? That doesn't just happen. I have NEVER ever heard of spots open for the marathon. And TWO??? Are you kidding me??? That doesn't happen.

So now I have this idea, this little seed, in the back of my mind. Could I actually do The Boston Marathon?? Is that possible? OH MY GOD, what am I even considering??? Boston? One of the world's top marathons? Am I freakin NUTS?

But twice in a few hours, I hear of 2 different teams with spots open....

And the sign says....

So much for well made plans!

I had my entire Sunday planned. I was going to sleep in, grab something to eat, take a quick shower to shave, then meet my friends at the pool at 11 to swim laps. I was going to come home, take a quick shower, grab lunch, watch the Pats game while decorating my Christmas tree. Then I was going to meet my friend Michelle for dinner at 5:30 and the only thing up in the air was if I was going to meet that gym after.

Well... the NFL changed the start times of some games for TV ratings. Since the Pats are so good, they were moved to a 4:15 start. Messed up my WHOLE Sunday. My friend Michelle refuses to meet while the games on. She hates football. So we are rescheduling.

On a side note... I sent her a facebook message telling her the game was moved to 4:15 and we had to eat in the bar area for dinner. When we finally connected to cancel, she said she told her boyfriend that I said the game was on at 4:15. He said, No, it was a 1pm game. She said, "Julie knows football. If Julie said the game was moved to 4:15, then the game was moved to 4:15."

So her boyfriend went on line to check, and yup, the game was moved to 4:15, so HE'S changing his whole day around too!

SO now I'm home, unmotivated, still not showered after swimming and watching other games while seeing my naked tree in my living room! It is 2:30 right now. SO as long as I am out of the shower by 4pm for the game, I'm fine. And I can still decorate my tree while the Pats game is on. Not sure I'm up for meeting this guy tonight, but I haven't decided yet.

I did go swimming with some friends this morning. It was AWESOME! I did better than I have ever done! I'm really proud of the progress I've made with it. Today I did 6 laps of swimming, 6 laps with the kickboard, then 10 laps of swimming and another 4 or 5 laps with the kickboard (we were talking and I lost track!) So double that to get the lengths and I did 52 to 54 lengths. We asked the lifeguard. 65 lengths is a mile. WOW! I almost did a mile in the pool today! I have never done this much at swimming since I started. I'm really looking forward to go again on Thursday night. Who knows, maybe I could get a full mile in then. :) That would be SO cool.

But now, I am absolutely exhausted! I could fall asleep right now. I really wanted to clean my house at some point today too... at least vacuum and sweep. As I sit on my sofa not showered after swimming. OH well. I'll move at some point.

Now I just need to decide if I can meet this guy tonight. Maybe for a coffee, I don't know. Still annoyed. He sent me a text message I didn't respond to yesterday, with a "sweetie" and "XOXO" in it. Really? If I was 21, all of that would be so great, but I'm not 21.

With this and with the guy I met a month or so ago at the 99 who was texting me a MILLION times, I think I am getting a better idea of what I'm looking for. I know I want someone who lives an active life and who fitness and exercise is important. I want someone positive who likes to have fun and DO things... live life instead of watching it. I want an open minded person. But I also want a driven person, with goals and with stability in his life. I really think I need someone who is financially secure. I understand that the economy is tough, but I want someone who knows how to take care of himself. If he can't take care of himself now, what would happen if it was a future relationship? I don't want to have to take care of someone.

But I would also like someone doesn't have kids. I would prefer that he wasn't married before, but ok if he was.

SO that's that. We'll see how this new online guy goes. I'm just not sure he's driven to push himself to take care of himself. I need to find out about that. And between the stupid text message and the attitude that I wouldn't send him a picture... I think he might be a little immature too. He is 5 years younger than me, and that's a BIG 5 years. SO, still thinking about it! We'll see.

Ok, I'm hungry. I have to at least move to get food! :)

Slightly annoyed

Today was a rough day to end a rough week. I'm pretty happy that its finally the weekend. So, enough about work.

Then I got home, changed and Kim picked me up. We went to Zumba, then had dinner at the 99. It was fun. I really like her. She's super nice, no drama. Just a good solid person.

Zumba was ok. I didn't love the class but it was fun. I'd try it again with a different teacher and see how it is. Everyone is different. I think we are going next Sunday morning for the 9am class. I liked the class I took a couple of months ago with my friend Christine at her gym. That was SO much fun!

Oh, so back to last night... I called the online guy. We were on the phone for over an hour and it was a great conversation. He texted me a few times today. I had to send him one and say, not ignoring you, but busy. Basically, go away and let me work.. I have too much to do to sit and text. But anyway... the conversation was good and I was going to have an open mind on it all.

I texted him when I got after being out with Kim. We texted for a few, then he called me. We were on the phone for less than 10 minutes and he was slightly pissy, again going on and on and on about wanting a friggin picture of me. WTF dude. Get over it. Is it that big a deal? There was a picture of me without sunglasses... I friggin checked!

SO now I'm annoyed. He THEN texted me a picture of himself. Of course without his shirt on, in boxers. Really? Is that necessary? We had a really nice conversation last night and he's already going there? This is the crap I hate. I didn't respond and I'm not going to. Not cool, not appropriate. And I just don't like that.

After stressing that you are looking for a relationship and not a hookup, why is having a close up picture of my face, without sunglasses so important and why would you need to send me a picture like that? I don't get it and I find it slightly annoying.

What a freakin day!

WOW was today insane at work! I didn't stop. It was SO crazy. I FINALLY remembered lunch around 2:30. Not good. I don't love days like that.

I am kind of glad that both of the people signed up for swimming tonight cancelled. I am just spent and exhausted. SO I cancelled it and I haven't moved in about 2 hours! :)

Tomorrow night I'm doing Zumba with Kim who I did yoga with on Sunday. The class starts at 6 and she's picking me up after 5:30. It'll be so much fun to try out this studio! I've heard really great things about it. And it'll be nice to hang out with Kim again. She's just such a nice person.

I emailed her tonight and asked her if she wanted to stop and grab something to eat after too... so now we're grabbing dinner after class.

I really like how I am starting to have new people in my life. And not just quantity of new people but really QUALITY new people. They are all good people. Positive, fun, happy people with great energy who like to be active and fit and DO things.

SO the guy from the dating website... I texted him the other night after we exchanged numbers. His email said it was late so he didn't want to text me then. I didn't hear anything back, so today I was going to email him again through the site. Well, I went on and he closed his profile! I was PISSED! Seriously, we exchange numbers, you tell me to text you, I do. You don't respond, then you close your account? WTF is that all about? And the worst part was that I was kind of interested in him. I mean, I don't know him and it was only a few emails but I was excited to get a new email from him and for me, that's a big deal. And then he closes his account!

SO pissy me... I grab my phone and send him ANOTHER text message saying I wasn't sure if my text went through the other night, but just wanted to say hi.

Um, yeah. SO I have the volume off of my phone. I noticed a new voice mail. It was him. He was glad I texted him. He closed his account yesterday. He thought I must be driving home from work and traffic was bad out so he told me to becareful driving home. And he said he really wanted to get to know me better.

Now don't I feel like a shmuck! I was SO pissed off, and then he leaves me the cutest voice mail. And seriously, bonus points for calling me and not texting me back. I do text but I don't love it... especially when I first exchange numbers. I want to actually talk to a guy! To find out if we click or not. So yeah, kudos on the call. But I still feel like a shmuck!

Now I'm all 12 year old girl and nervous to call him back. He called me over an hour ago! But I have been busy in my defense.

I went on line and ordered my groupon for the place I originally bought my sneakers. $50 for $25! Talk about a good deal! Then I went on swimoutlet.com and got 3 new bathing suits and a kickboard. With shipping, all of that was under $50! And THEN I went and registered for the 10K on New Years Day. No backing out now! :)

SO I just spent very close to $100 on myself on line, a couple of weeks before Christmas, when I have barely done ANY shopping! I have 1 thing for my brother and then my cousin Jenn is done. That's ALL I have gotten so far. Talk about pathetic! Time for me to get crackin'!

Alright, enough procrastinating on this. First I need to run to the bathroom, then go in a spot where I have better reception on my cell phone (once and a while I'll drop calls from where I'm laying down on the sofa right now), THEN I will call him back. Boy oh boy am I nervous on this one! Why do I get like a 12 year old girl when it comes to guys I am slightly interested in??? All nervous and insecure! Kind of funny! Ahhh... Ok, ok, I need to more and get this show on the road so I can just do this and stop putting it off!

Hump Day

Work was fast today and overall sort of unproductive. Too many problems came up so I couldn't really finish any of the projects I was working on.

I left work at 3 so I could get in a run and met Betsey at the gym. SUCH a good run. She had me do inclines and declines on the treadmill to get in hill work. It felt good. Betsey has been running for a lot longer than me and did 2 half marathons this year. I pretty much kept pace with her for most of it. It felt good!

Tomorrow night is swimming and I'm looking forward to that too. It should be fun and I really like the workout. Then Friday I'm doing Zumba with Kim, running 5 miles on Saturday and not sure yet on Sunday, but maybe another swim.

Tonight I went to my final class with my life coach group. I first started with this group in the fall of 2007 for a 5 week course. Then in January of 2008 and 2009 it was once a month and this year just 6 times. Tonight was the last night for our group.

I'm a little sad, but, well, I'm not sure. I have really gotten to know these people so well over the past few years and I have taken so much from SO many of them. They all helped bring me to where I am by sharing their knowledge and wisdom along the way.

I have changed so much since I first started with them, and I am really am a different person than when I began. I tried to explain tonight that I am happier now than I have ever been in my entire life. And it isn't because of any outside influences. I am happy IN me. This is new for me.

When we left, we said good-bye and happy holidays and with the plan to meet in the summer as we did the summer of 2009. It would be nice to catch up with everyone and to check in.

While we were walking out, I was with 2 women who have been in the group since the beginning, Leah and Cary. Cary said that I have done such a great job with everything. I have taken all of the lessons and really applied them to my life. Then Leah said, and later repeated to everyone, "Out of everyone in our group, Julie is the shining star on our tree."

It is so touching to hear something like that and to know that it truly comes from a genuine place. I will miss these women and I will be forever grateful for everything they shared and passed on to me. I am a better person because of my experiences with them.

I was NOT motivated to get in a run tonight. Good thing I got my new sneakers delivered! I was excited to run in those, and that really is the only reason I got in my 2 miles tonight. Then I went to the hip hop class. Fun, but not something I'd do on a regular basis. I'd rather more of a workout. Zumba is better. I'd like to find a regular Zumba class that I love.
Tomorrow I'm meeting my friend Betsey at the gym and doing my 3 miles on the treadmill then doing a workout for the strength training. I'm looking forward to getting in the swimming on Thursday too! I have run early on Saturday, but I'd love to get in a swim too... but I have to be at mom's early. Not sure how I'm going to end up pulling all of it off, but I'll figure something out. Maybe I'll do a swim on Sunday. It might snow, so I'm not posting a walk. I'll have to give that one some thought. But I still might go to Zumba on Sunday morning too... I have to wait to hear back Kim.
Ahhh.. .ok, time for bed. 11:30 is late enough for me. Damn, I'm getting tired.
But today was a good day. :)
Oh, one more thing... the whole me being a bitch thing to NA... tonight 2 people were there who know her and one is an assistant organizer of the group. She has had to deal with NA and knows HOW bad she is. She can't deal with it either. And my friend Jill knew I was talking about her too. Funny. Everyone feels the same way about her being a nutcase!

Ok, now it really is bed time!

Monday Night Football!

What a great way to start the week! Monday night football, Pats, Jets, in New England, 25 degrees out (MAYBE!), Tedy honored at 1/2 time, and the Pats KICKING JETS BUTT!
And I love it... just as I finished typing that sentence, the Jets were going for a touchdown pass, and the Pats intercepted! YAY! I LOVE football! :) So much for a good night sleep! I'll be wired when the game is finally over! 31 to 3 in the 3rd!
My naked tree is still in my living room but the lights are done at least. I just didn't have time today. And I won't all week! Going to be CRAZY!
Tomorrow I have to get in a 2 mile run before a Hip Hop dance class at 7. Wednesday I'm leaving work early to do a 3 mile run, then home and shower and leave my house before 6:30 for my class with the life coach. Thursday night is lap swimming and I have possible plans for Friday night too.
For Friday, I found another meetup group which is Laughing Yoga. I have heard of it, but never knew of anywhere that hasd it or anything on what it was like. The class is $10 on Friday night. I asked Tracie if she wants to go with me but she wasn't sure yet.
Saturday I have to get in a 5 mile run in the morning, then I am going to mom's for the whole day. She is taking my aunt shopping for the day and then having dinner, and taking her to see lights at night before bringing her home. Sunday I am pretty sure I'm taking a Zumba class in the morning. I haven't decided on a walk at the park yet and the Pats play at 1. I'm meeting my friend Michelle for dinner on Sunday night too.
Damn, I'm busy!!
On another note, been emailing someone on a dating website. Generally I think, oh ok, he emailed. But so far, when I get an email from this guy, I smile and open it right away. His profile is nice, he likes to try new things and seems fun. Plus he has a good sense of humor. If someone can get me to laugh out loud for real through an email... that's good! And the email I read toady did.
Anyway... he asked me for my number, which I gave him, but that's when I looked at my scheudle. Damn, I have a lot going on! I've been single for so long and never ever have to consider anyone else in making my plans. So trying to think of fitting in time for date? I have no time!
Hmm.. what else?

OH at work today, someone I used to supervise who was not very good at her job... she was something else that was blamed on me. Well today she was with the manager in the HR manager's office with the door closed. For a while. Then her manager left that office and went into the IT person's office and closed THAT door. SO something is going on. I have a feeling she was written up and is on her last leg.
I have a great sense of satisfaction that after all the crap I went through in that department, all the things that were blamed on me which I knew were not on me, I really like that so many of those problems still exist and are still being worked on and dealt with. It isn't me. And now they know that, even if it will never ever be admitted!
(And ANOTHER Pats interception! Seriously? I really thought this would be a game, not a slaughter! This is almost sad!)
Anyway... the nosey nelly in me wants details which I know I will never get. I would also love to get the acknowledgement that the problems that were put on me, weren't really me after all. I would LOVE that, but I know it won't happen.
Instead? I get to have a conversation about accounting (who is also HR and one of them was out to get me before!) and about how back she f'ed up on information she gave to me on Wednesday, then on Thursday and again on Friday! Yeah.. we have a great accounting department! This will be a FUN conversation! :)

Oh, and one more thing... the whole me being a bitch to NA the other day with the email I sent to her. Two people commented on what I put on facebook, knowing EXACTLY what I who I was talking about. Then a friend of mine texted me today asking if I kicked her out of the group. She is REALLY that bad that so many people know exactly what is going on with her!
But one of her friends who I know, who is also an assistant organizer of my group, called me tonight at 8:30. I had my phone off and the game was starting, so no way I was going to call her back. I sent her an email saying just as much asking her what was up. Not sure if I'll hear it from her but whatever. I'll just tell her I don't want her to be in the middle, so I'm not going there. And if she pushes it, I'll remind her that SHE is the one who kicked a member out of our group because they had issues between them. :)

Ok... time to watch the 4th quarter which just started. Now the score is 38 to 3! :) NICE!!! But again, almost sad. Monday night football, you'd think it would be something of a game. LOVE the Pats!

I had a really great day today. The yoga class I went to was AWESOME! I wish I started going earlier. But I do like what they will be doing come January. They will continue to have a weekly yoga class for free, but it will be at different studios around the community. Each month will be at one studio for the month and they will showcase what they offer with each class. I think that is such a great idea.

And it was fun going with Kim too. She's really sweet and really nice. I have a feeling I'll become friends with her too. And that's great. She has great energy and those are the kinds of people I want to be around.

Then we went to the fitness walk at the park. A really great walk with a good group of people. We did it again in about an hour, so that was cool.

After that I was home for a bit then out the dooor for ice skating. That didn't go as well, but that's ok. They didn't have anymore skates in my size, so no skating for me. :( But I had too much on my plate today anyway.

SO I headed up to mom's and had a great dinner with them. Dad made a beef stew and mom made her awesome popovers. LOVE them!

I checked online for the delivery status of my sneakers. They are due to be delivered on Tuesday! YAY! I can't wait! Get to run soon in new sneakers! :) I think it will make a really big difference. And now that I have the running journal on line, I can log in my sneakers and keep track of my miles on them.

Then I checked my email and the fitness group's website. One person who still gets under my skin? She posted 4 friggin comments TODAY! Seriously? I sent her a nasty gram email. And I was a BITCH! And you know what? It felt good! It really did feel good to tell her, enough or your out. Kind of a relief to really put it out there. I told her:

*************************************************************************************
NA,

After hoping on line and looking The Fitness Group's web page, I am extremely irritated and here is why....

1. You are not the group organizer of The XXX XXX Fitness XXX Group

2. I have previously told you that I do not like that you push your opinion on everyone by commenting on absolutely everything.

3. I have previously told you that I do not want to be around you.

4. You have yet again forced your opinion all over the fitness group with you INSANE amount of comments.


This will be the absolute last time I am saying this. Stop with the comments. I have had enough of it. If you continue, as the Group Organizer, I will remove you permanently from this group.

I have respected the decision of assistant organizers who have removed members due to personal issues with members and I have tried for well over 6 months to avoid having do to that with you, although for just as long, many people have been telling me to just kick you out of this group.

Again, this is the last time I am saying it. If it happens again, I won't bother saying anything and will just remove you.

And please do not bother responding to this. Any emails from you will be deleted before I read them, so really, don't waste you time.

Julie
*************************************************************************************

Yup, I channeled my inner bitch and I feel SO much better now! :)

Time to finish the lights on the tree so I can start decorating. I think the decorating will happen tomorrow night, but I'd like to at least get the lights up tonight.

And I do have a busy week. Running tomorrow, I was supposed to go to 2 dance classes on Tuesday, but I'm going to cancel. I have to run 2 miles Tuesday. Then 3 on Wednesday and my class Wednesday night (leaving work at 3 to get the run and a shower in before leaving my house before 6:30 for class). Swimming on Thursday and Friday is rest day. Saturday I have a 5 mile run before heading to mom's for the day and going with mom to take out my dad's sister shopping.

The week should be fun and fly by! The weekend will be here before I know it! :)

The stand finally stopped leaking, so I added more water. But I'm just not motivated to decorate it. I have everything out, my living room is a mess, but I just can't get it going. And at this point in the night, I'm just not up for it. It is already after 9:30. OH well. Hopefully I'll be up for doing it in the short bit of free time that I have tomorrow.

Kim is going to be at my house around 9:15. She said she thinks 20 minutes to my house, but I doubt it. We'll be REALLY early for yoga, but that's ok. I just need to remember to dress for the walk too.

I'd like to get to bed early with yoga, the walk, and later ice skating, all before going up to mom's house. Going to be a very long and busy day, but I know I'll have fun. As far as the training goes, I'm supposed to do strength training. I know I won't have time, but at least I'm getting in other things.

Jen and I were at the pool tonight for about an hour. I did SO much better with swimming tonight. Each time I go, I do more and more. I guess like the couch to 5K, start slow and continue to build on it.

So, some time to relax for the rest of the night before crashing and trying to figure out what I'm doing tomorrow. Sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day.

Saturday check in

I had so many well laid plans for today but it is one of those days where all of the plans have been tossed out the window again and again and again!

I did a lot of the cleaning I needed to do last night before my parents brought the tree over today. Got up early and I swept and mopped the kitchen and bathroom then dusted the living room, made my bed and organized the closet room a bit. All that was left was vacuuming.

I went to the track to meet everyone for my 4 mile run. I think it was the cross country or track team that was on the track, but not running, just doing a workout with the coaches. We couldn't run there.

Two left to do their own thing and I met Paula at a different track, but closer to my house. I did end up getting in the 4 miles and it was at a better pace than I have been at all week, which is good too.

After running, I called my mom at home and on her cell, which was off. It was just after 10:30 and she said she would be at my house after 10:30. I couldn't get her on the phone! Finally she called me and said they had just left the tree farm and were off to a late start. That gave me some more time to finish cleaning and run the dishwasher... can't believe how clean my house is!

So my parents got here around 11:45. They brought the tree in and we got it in the stand. They didn't stay very long, just for a cup of coffee, and they were out the door by 12:15. I vacuumed around the tree to get up the needles from getting it in the stand and that's when I noticed water! The stand was leaking! :( I was so bummed. I called my parents AT LEAST 8 times. Mom's cell phone was on this time, but she never heard it ring.

Dad said to take the tree out of the stand (Yeah right!) and check the stand. Right now I have a cup under the stand to collect any more water that drips out. After moving the tree around in the stand, it might be better, but I'm going to wait a while more. It was REALLY dripping a lot earlier.

The stand is a funky one. The tree place drills a hole in the bottom of the trunk and the stand has a pin sticking out of it that you put the tree into, and that's it. No screwing into the sides of the tree or anything. But there is a rubber stopper in the bucket that holds the water, which is around the pin. That wasn't sealed correctly. Dad said to take the tree down, empty the stand and check the rubber stopper.

My answer? If I did it wrong the first time, how am I supposed to know if I have it right now?? SO the cup sits below the stand STILL. And my tree is still naked.

I am leaving in about 15 minutes to go to the pool to swim laps again. I'll have to do decorating after I get back. Oh well. At least it is a pretty tree.

But I have been sneezing like crazy since I got home from the track. And it started before my parents go here so I know it isn't the tree. I thought I was done with this cold! I was better all week and don't even know how many times I have sneezed in the past 4 1/2 hours since I got home! I can't stop! I think I might run out of my tissues too. That's not good.

When I do decorate the tree, my living room will look nice. I'm excited to get started with the decorating. I love Christmas. This year has taken me a bit to get into the spirit, but just having my naked tree in my living room is already helping. Well, that and having the music channel set to Christmas music right now! :) I just can't wait to see the tree done. I will be really nice.

It was good too, cuz I didn't need to take any furniture out of this room. I just shifted it around. SO that was really good. Wasn't too sure what I was going to do with the rocking chair and ottoman, but they can stay in here. They just have new homes for the next month.

Ok, meeting Jen in... um 23 minutes. Time to get off the sofa and start getting ready so I can be on time! :)

Swimming

Tonight was lap swim. With a little instruction, I got on the bathing cap and my hair really did stay dry! That was cool. And Jen ended up giving me her extra pair of goggles! Having both really made a big difference. I did spend lots of time chatting but I got in at least a 1/2 hour of swimming.

I would like to do this more often. I think I'd get so much better with more practice. I might get there on Saturday. I think I am going to call the pool to ask if lanes are set up on Saturdays so I could get a little in.

This has been a tough week at work and I'm really glad that tomorrow is Friday. Plus it is rest day for working out! I'm looking forward to 5pm tomorrow. I'll get home and put on my sweats! I cannot WAIT! :) I need the break.

But I'll have to clean my house. My parents will be here on Saturday morning with the tree and I'm running at 9am. SO tomorrow night will be some cleaning.

Ahh... I'm pretty relaxed right now. That swim was good. It got out the all the stress and really put me in a good place. I like this! hmm...

December already?

This year has just flown by! I can't believe it!! Crazy!

So I'm thinking that I'm not really supposed to be taking yoga, or at least that's what the universe is telling me. This month, I didn't have one of my Tuesday night classes. No class the first Tuesday, I just couldn't get up to go the next 2. Last week I was sick but come to find out, there was no class anyway. I showed up last night and the building was locked, so we had no where to have class! And next week is back to the first Tuesday of the month. We are scheduled to have class the week after that, then no more until the 2nd Tuesday in January!

I was planning on taking a free class at the yoga place on Sunday's. Been planning on it for weeks but just never made it. I'm going this Sunday with someone from the fitness class. After I found out last night that my regular Tuesday class only has one in December, I was happy that I'd at least have the Sunday classes. Guess what? Checked the website, no Sunday classes listed! I called the store and was told this Sunday is the last class they will have in the store! :(

I'm still going, but I'm disappointed that I won't have it regularly. I might have to find another class that I can take.


I went to the track tonight to run. It was SO windy! I couldn't believe it! We made the 3 miles in and then when we were doing a walking cool down lap, the heaven's OPENED! I did my stretching at home.

Tonight was a tough go. This was the first time I did runs 3 days in a row. It was hard. Between 3 days in a row, my knee being sore and the wind... it was not the best run I've ever done. I went slow for the 2nd half of the run! My total time was 35 minutes for 3 miles. Not my best but at least I got the 3 miles in. That in itself was a challenge for me.

Tomorrow night is lap swimming at the pool and Friday is off.. so basically cleaning my house. Saturday morning I have a 4 mile run, then my parents are coming down to deliver my tree! :) The rest of Saturday I will be decorating for Christmas and doing the tree. I can't wait!

I'm tired. I think I might be going to bed soon. I woke up at 4am and didn't fall back to sleep until about 6:30. I had reset my alarm for 7... oh and didn't go to bed until after 11:30 last night. Yup, I'm tired!

Today was a LONG day. I hope tomorrow will be slightly better, but at least it is that much closer to this weekend! :)

Nite!

End of November

WOW! November just FLEW by. I can't believe it is December in less than 2 hours and Christmas is only a few weeks away! That's just nuts. I barely started my Christmas shopping. This is just NOT like me. And I'm broke, so it'll just have to wait. I'll be one of those fools doing my shopping on Christmas Eve this year... seeing as if we get get our Christmas bonus's, we'll get them on the 23rd and I get paid on the 22nd. Either way? I'll be shopping on Christmas Eve.

Time to look back at November. Lots of figuring out my new job, but I think it went well. I made the decision to do the 10K on New Year's Day and to run in a 1/2 marathon, and this week officially started my training. I'm doing my best to let the annoying people no longer get under my skin (easier said than done!) and trying to continue to focus on the positive. With Thanksgiving, I've really been looking back at the whole year and just overall, I'm grateful for where I'm at now.

As far as the goals I had set for this month... time to review the successes.

Hmm.. run 5 miles at least times? Honestly, I can't remember if I have or not! I didn't keep track all month of what I did, so I'm not too sure. I know I was consistant in getting to the track, even if my knee hurt and even if I didn't get in the whole 3 miles, I did it. SO for that I'm happy.

I didn't do 2 other fitness things every week. I did do some walks, 5Ks and swimming so I was closer than I expected to be! That's cool. Nice to at least have the fitness group's calendar to see what happened. I did do squats and lunges and a work out once. That was good too.

As far as a social night out with friends? I'm going to count the dancing night. We went to a bar after the dance lesson and it was SO much fun! I need to do that more often! :)

Hmm... now for setting December goals.

First... I want to enjoy the season and not stress out about the shopping and all that bs. I just want to enjoy it and have fun with it. Yeah, I'm broke, but I can have fun without spending a ton of money.

Second goal... I NEED to stay on top of my 1/2 marathon training schedule. This is going to include it all... the short Tuesday runs, the strength training, the cross training and most importantly, the long Saturday runs. I HATE running in the morning and this Saturday will be a BIG test for me to do 4 miles at 9am, but I have to do it! And I know I can.

Also, I need to continue to use that online training log that I found. I LOVE it. It is a great way to review my progress and hold myself accountable. Friday's will be my only day with no entries! :)

What else? I want to continue to develop my new friendships. I have done so well with all of that and I think I am continueing to do that. I want to keep up with it and reach out. The fitness group has really opened me up to so many people and I have made so many friends. I like that. I am doing yoga this Sunday with someone I have only met a few times but she is SO nice. So I'm looking forward to us taking Sunday morning yoga classes together.

And that's it... that's what I want for December.

On a side note... I had on The Biggest Loser tonight. They keep doing the commercial for a Biggest Loser exercise video game. In the commercial, this woman walks into a gym. She sees another woman running on a treadmill and it isn't for her. Then she goes into the yoga room and doesn't know what they are doing. Then she walks into a boxing/sparing class and decides the gym is not for her. She goes home and does the game on her own.
I think it is SO funny because all the things she thought were too much, running, yoga and boxing, I LOVE! I don't love the gym, but I love the fitness, the pushing myself and getting in that workout. Not sure when this happened or who I have become, but damn, I like this change in me! :)

A quick one

It is almost 11pm and I'm tired, so this is planned to be fast, but knowing me... who knows! :)

My knee was still sore tonight running in the opposite direction on the track. But I still got out the 3 miles per the training schedule. I am SO glad Tracie went too. Not sure I could have done it on my own. I wanted to stop around mile 2, but my mantra as I was running was, "I am in training for a 1/2 marathon". That seemed to work for me tonight.

After I got home, I was emailing another friend I run with who wants to do the New Year's Day run with me. I told Carrie that tonight was the start of the 1/2 marathon training for Tracie and me, but it wasn't too bad. We only did 3 miles tonight. She had the best response ever:

"only 3 miles"...can you believe you're saying only? Haha. I was just telling my coworker I "only" did 2.75 yesterday and she thought I was nuts. Look how far we've come!!"

Seriously... I can't believe we are saying "ONLY" in reference to running 3 miles! That IS nuts! :)

It got me thinking about the past year. A year ago right now, I was looking for a new apartment, living in a really bad area. I already had at least one round of cortisone injections into my spine and I was still trying to lose weight.. at about 145 or so pounds. I had stopped running last year after the begining of October.

Now? In my new apartment in a MUCH better area (I'm actually planning on running around here tomorrow night, I NEVER would have done that in the old neighborhood!). I am running 3 times a week and this week moving to 4 times. I am swimming and doing yoga, and just overall SO much more active. I have SO many new people and great friends in my life. I weigh 125 pounds and have never been this healthy or this happy.

Amazing how many things have changed overall in the past 12 months. If you put your mind to it, its amazing what you can happen!

Sunday of the 4 day weekend

I really like long weekends. I'm pretty relaxed. Still a bit stressed about money right now. I just wish I had more of it. Money really is the biggest stressor in my life.
I slept in today, had a couple cups of coffee while I surfed the net & watched some morning news. Then I met the fitness group for a walk at the park at 11:30. We really walked fast today. We stopped after one lap to wait for a couple of people, then did the second lap. Even with the waiting, we finished the 3.5 miles in about 55 minutes! That's a REALLY good pace for our group.
Now I'm sitting, watching some football with another cup of coffee. I need to hop in the shower and get to mom's, so I have to get myself in gear soon.
Because I'm a bit stressed, I know I'm cranky. I need to really watch that today with my mother... I have a feeling she's going to be getting on my nerves today, but that's ok.
Tomorrow is going to be a VERY long day at work. I haven't logged into my email once all weekend and I'm a little nervous about what I'll see when I do! It'll be NUTS!
JOY!
Oh, today at the park, I told my friend Jen who also has knee problems what I found online about the IT Band thing. I described what it said, and she completely agrees that is what is going on with her as well. She laughed with the needing sneakers and running on a circular track thing. She got her sneakers when I got mine and she has been running with me since April, but not as often as me... I am at the track more.
SO... tomorrow night, I am going to run in the opposite direction to help my knee. And I'll take Advil before I run too. Hopefully it'll help. Between that and getting new sneakers this week.
That's about it... not too much going on. I've been REALLY lazy this weekend. Good thing I posted the couple of fitness things on the calendar! I might not have left my house! :)

Thanksgiving weekend

I survived Thanksgiving with the family. Had a fun day with a ton of food. Even though I ate a ton of pie, the scale was ok on Friday morning. :) Good thing I did that 5K on Thursday morning.
Thursday afternoon my knee was KILLING me. It was pretty bad the whole day. I had a really hard time moving it. It was ok straight and it was ok bent, just getting from one to another hurt.
I googled knee pain for runners and found a few things, then I finally figured out what was wrong. Here's a cut and paste from about.com:

What is the iliotibial band?
Iliotibial band syndrome is due to inflammation of the iliotibial band, a thick band of fibrous tissue that runs down the outside of the leg. The iliotibial band begins at the hip and extends to the outer side of the shin bone (tibia) just below the knee joint. The band functions in coordination with several of the thigh muscles to provide stability to the outside of the knee joint.
What is iliotibial band syndrome?
Iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) occurs when there is irritation to this band of fibrous tissue. The irritation usually occurs over the outside of the knee joint, at the lateral epicondyle--the end of the femur (thigh) bone.

And where has my pain been? Um, on the outside of my left knee. Then I found the causes. It can be overuse, not enough stretching and increasing distance or speed too much. I only run at most 3 times a week, stretch like a crazy person and have been really good about slowly increasing my distance while my speed remains the same.

Other causes? Improper shoes, and running on a circular track. My sneakers are about 7 months old with about 15 miles a week on them (some weeks WAY more with walking tossed in). And I have been running on a track since April. That's why its my left knee only. Nice, huh?
So I'm going to have to take it off the track soon and I'm ordering new sneakers tomorrow. I have been taking advil and icing my knee too. Today I walked for about an hour and 20 minutes. I wanted to run, but after about a mile or 2 I started to feel it in my knee. I didn't want to push it too much.

So now I'm home, relaxing. Stopped at Target after the track for milk and my frozen pizza. $125 later I left. (I really don't know how that happens! At least I got one Christmas gift there for my cousin, but everything else? Yeah, for me! Food, undies-SIZE SMALL!- kitty litter & catfood, a new gel pack for my knee and that's about it! $125?)

I have a list that I want to do at home today. Sweep, mop the bathroom, clean the tub, change the lightblub in my bedroom overhead light, put the dishes away, go through some clothes to donate more and finish reading the 15 magazines I'm behind on so I can get rid of them. So far all I did was make that list. But I cleared out my email, made coffee and changed into comfy clothes to get on the sofa in! :) I deserve the break.

Tomorrow I am supposed to start the 1/2 marathon training. We'll see. It is stretch and strengthen day. I have a walk with the fitness group at 11:30 tomorrow morning. I MIGHT do yoga at 10am tomorrow, I don't know yet (said that for 3 weeks now and I STILL haven't made it to this FREE class!) And I'm going to mom's tomorrow too. I suppose I could work out at home tomorrow like I did last weekend and possibly make it to the yoga class, then do the 3 1/2 mile walk at the park too. I'd get it all in and be on track with the training. I just don't know how I'll feel in the am.
Monday night I am supposed to run 3 miles, Tuesday is 2 and I have yoga that night too. Wednesday is 3 miles & stregthen and Thursday is 30 minutes of cross training, but I'll do laps at the pool for that. Friday is Rest and Saturday is a 4 mile run. As long as my knee is ok, I SHOULD be able to do it all. Hopefully! We'll see. Maybe Monday night I'll do the opposite direction on the track and see how my knee feels, if that makes a difference! :)

SO that's it.. Now time for my lazy Saturday. I really really like 4 day weekends. I still have tomorrow off too! :)

Turkey Trot

Kind of forgot that Sudafed is dehydrating. Not really the best choice for before a 5K race. I was doing great through mile 2, then I needed to walk. I was at 20:20 at the 2 mile mark. Then I died. I finished at an even 36 minutes. I thought that it was at 35:59 but I guess not! :( But considering I'm sick and don't feel well and that I walked most of mile 3, that's not too bad for me.
It was a fun morning. I'm glad I went! Now I'm on my sofa relaxing before hopping in the shower and heading up to see my family.

Here's some pics from today...

Turkey Day!

It is 6:20 am. I'm on the sofa with the news on and about to start getting ready to head to the High School for the start of the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot. Should be really fun.

I am feeling better from this cold. Just took the forth round of meds... 2 every 4 hours for the past. 4pm, 8pm, 11:30pm and 6am. Just need to remember the tissues for the race. 30 degrees today! URGH! That's cold for running even for me!

As long as I don't strangle NA today, then it was a success. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Eve with a cold

Still fighting this cold. Work closed at 3 and I stopped at CVS for a prescription, some cold meds and tissues. I LOVE the tissues I got. Never thought I could be this excited for tissues, but really, I am!

I was almost this excited when I first tried Puffs Plus with Aloe, but this is SO much better when you have a cold! I LOVE THEM!

Puffs Plus, with lotion AND VICK'S! Every time I use a tissue and wipe my nose, I smell Vicks and it helps clear me up a little. I LOVE it. Such a great idea!

So I've been laying on my sofa for the past 4 1/2 hours. I will most likely be in bed by 10pm and up at 6. I need to be at the race for 7am. I'm meeting SO many people there and I can't wait. Should be fun.

Other than seeing NA tomorrow. Damn, that girl STILL drives me crazy. I got such a HUGE and I mean HUGE!!!! email from her tonight. Really? Just not necessary.

That's one thing I need to work on... not letting someone get to me that much. I've gotten so much better at it, but some people just really get under my skin and she's one of them.

And yes, I was a complete and absolute BITCH in my email response to her on Thanksgiving Eve and I really just don't care. And I bet you're thinking... "hmm... I wonder what she said back that was so bad?" Wanna know? I'll tell you! I'll even copy and paste from my sent email.

I said....
NA, the email is so long I couldn't read it.

Tomorrow is thanksgiving. As I said before, you bring out something in me that I don't like about myself and with tomorrow being thanksgiving, I refuse to let that happen.

You are obviously entitled to your opinions, but going forward I would GREATLY appreciate not having them shared with me.


SO tomorrow morning when I have the 5K... there will be about 15 of us there meeting together. Yeah, she's one of them! Nice and tense on Thanksgiving morning!
Good times, huh?
Happy Thanksgiving!

Almost Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Eve, but even though its a huge night to go out, I'm not. Pretty sure that work is going to close at 3pm and I'm looking forward to that. Then Thursday morning getting up for a 5K, then my Grandpa's for dinner.
I have 4 days off and of course... I just got a cold! I feel miserable! I can't stop sneezing. I am so congested right now and I have a dry hacking cough.
Figures!

Sunday morning

The funniest thing happened as I was waking up. I had set my alarm so I had time to chill before the walk at the park today. I hit snooze a couple times. With my clock across the room, I need to get out of bed and hit snooze and then go back to bed. Sometimes I don't even wake up or realize I'm hitting snooze.

This morning, I THOUGHT I was watching a news story about the police showing all these crazy areas that the found bullets and casings. Then the alarm went off and I remember thinking, how come the TV shut off when the alarm went off? Um, because the TV wasn't on. I was dreaming I was watching the news. Really? How weird is that?

SO I am a bit sore today. After I wrote yesterday I ended up doing more arms and abs. I know I didn't do enough arms the first time around. I WANTED to feel really sore, so I knew I got in a good workout. I'm not as sore as I wanted to be, but I do feel it. Guess I need to do it more often and push myself. I don't want flabby arms. I want some muscle defination.

Now my challenge is to find the balance to maintain my weight. I don't want to lose anymore and it is a struggle find the right balance. Generally my weight is between 125.0-128.0 never more or less since the begining of October. Until this week. Three times I was under 125 and today I was at 124.4. I don't want to lose more, so it'll be tough to find out how to stay where I'm at. Maybe doing weights and working out like that will build more muscle mass and keep me from losing anything else.

I have about 20 minutes left before I need to get into the shower. I'm meeting my fitness group at 11:30 for a walk at the park again. I want to have everything I need in my car when I leave, so I won't need to stop home again. I'll just shoot right up to mom's. I have lots of laundry this week, so it'll be a couple of loads.

My mom wants to go visit my aunt in a rehab. She had surgery a week or 2 ago, still not sure what she had done but either way it has been a while since I've seen her. SO that will be good.

And I am going to have to hit the supermarket to pick up a few things. Tomorrow is our Thanksgiving lunch at work and I need to bake the stupid muffins tonight! The Pats play at 4:15. Not sure when time I'll be home to start baking. Obviously I'm super excited about this, huh? But everyone loves those muffins. Chocolate Cherry Mini Muffins, a weight watchers recipe. It says 1 point each but I make them too big, so they end up being about 1 1/2 points the way I make them.

I still have more cleaning to do in my house. My kitchen is DONE I love it. So is my living room. Dusted, vacuumed with the carpet deoderizer and even vaccuumed the furniture from cat fur. Didn't do the floors in the bedroom, closet room or bathroom and didn't do the tub. I REALLY hate cleaning the bathrooom. That is SO my least favorite. And I hate cleaning in general. SO the bathroom?? SUCKS!

I need more coffee. Time to get up!

My day and new insights

Today has been a pretty good day for the most part and I still have hours left. It's about 4:30 on Saturday afternoon. I had set my alarm for 8am this morning to get the day going.
After a sluggish start, I left for the track at 9:45 to meet my friends. I completely forgot to eat my protien bar while I was home and grabbed it on the way out the door. I ate it on my drive to the track with some water. NOT good! I need more time in between eating and running. Should have had it earlier with some milk and then left for the track. Anyway.. somehow finished 1 3/4 miles of jogging with a horrific side stitch! I had walked 3 warm up laps and ended up doing another 2-3 miles after the jog with Jill. Nice to catch up and chat. She's pretty cool. (funny cuz she went to college with NA- the annoying one and didn't like here then. somehow ended up back here and couldn't believe she was stuck around NA again!)
Speaking of NA, she was there today. Did my best to avoid her. I can't even say how many times she inturrupted me. Jill and I were talking about a website I had emailed her and NA just started talking over us about swimming. I made it REALLY obvious I was annoyed at her inturrupting us. After quickly answering NA's question, I looked back at Jill and said, where was I? What was I in the middle of saying? But it was only the 3 warm up laps I had to deal with and there were several of us together so it wasn't too bad. :)

So after walking with Jill, I came home and made a pot of coffee... I was DYING for my caffine fix. Then I emptied the dishwasher, did some more dishes, and realized I had never really washed my bathing suit from the other night, so pulled out the bucket and woolite to clean that. Then since I had the bucket out, wanted to mop. I moved the kitchen table around, swept and mopped the kitchen and did all of the counters. The kitchen was SUPER clean. The only thing I didn't do was inside the fridge. Trash day is Monday, so I could do that tomorrow night. (I hate leaving food in the trash too long before trash day).

Then I decide to clean out the oven too... just before I started sweeping. Since I almost never cook, the oven doesn't get too dirty. The last time that I cleaned it was just as I was moving in and I didn't stick around for it to clean. Um, yeah. HORRIBLE! It was hot, smokey, and smelt like burning plastic! My house is super old and it has an exhaust fan to outside over the oven. I had that on, the 2 windows open, the ceiling fan on, and the door to the kitchen closed so the smell wouldn't get to the rest of the house. Plus I put in 2 Clean Cotton candles to help.

It was so bad, as soon as I finished mopping I had to leave the room! My eyes were BURNING! After the chlorine burning my eyes Thursday night, they are still pretty sensitive. It was SO bad. I went into the living room and surfed on my laptop for a while and watched some TV. Finally it was a little better and I finished up in the kitchen, put everything back.

Then... it was on to more working out! I remembered the old bootcamp exercises that Alex did with us last year when I was going 2-3 times a week. I did all of that stuff SOLID for about 40 minutes. I couldn't do the lunges though. My knee is REALLY sore from the run today. I'm afraid I did something to it. It started hurting after the 5 mile race a few weeks ago and since then after I run it gets pretty sore, and always the same place. The outside of my left knee. HURTS! On the first lung I tried, I knew there was no way. The squats were ok though so I did a ton of those, with the bicept curls then I did the nuts arm thing Alex did. I ended up on the floor doing her leg routine and I'm pretty sure I'll have a hard time walking tomorrow!

And I did a REALLY good ab workout. I want to keep doing abs more regularly. I know I already have some defination but I really want a solid 6 pack. I know I could get it even if I only spent 10 minutes a day doing abs.. not even 10 minutes! I'll get there.

SO... after all of that, I was back in the kitchen. I had a very old picture of me up on the fridge. It was my reminder when I wanted to open the door and snack. I picture of me about 10 years ago. I was really thin and fit and looked good. So for the past few years while I wanted to lose weight, that was my goal.. to get back to that picture.

I took the picture off the fridge and put it in the drawer. I don't need it as a reminder anymore of what I want to be. I don't want to be who is in that picture. It was from New Years Eve many years ago and my old psycho roommate took the picture of me that night. I had a drink on the table and a cigarette in my hand. I never exercised and ate like crap. Yeah, I was thin, but I wasn't healthy. And I wasn't happy either.

So now that picture is put away. I like where I have come to at this point in my life. I am happier and healthier than I have ever been. I don't need a picture on my fridge to tell me what to strive for. I'm thinner now than I was in the picture! And I don't smoke, I barely drink and I exercise at least 5 days a week. I am not the absolute best I could be with my eating habbits, but I am SO much better than I have ever been.

Now I'll need a new picture for my fridge; a new goal to set for myself. Maybe I can find a picture of a finish line of a race. Something to keep me going for the half marathon. This is going to be a challenge for me. Even today with my knee sore, and not doing as well as I wanted for my run, I started to doubt my ability to really go through with 3 months of training for this. But I have committed to it. I told so many of my friends and I am going to do this!

Nothing worth anything ever comes easy. Working for this, to run a half marathon.. even the 10K on New Years Day... those are going to be big challenges for me. It won't be easy. It will be lots of hard work and dedication. But the sense of accomplishment when I finish? :) That's what I want! I want to work so hard for something, towards a goal I really want, and then do it! And run across those finish lines! My time won't matter. My speed and pace, I really don't care. I want to finish. That's my only goal for the 2 races. Finishing. I just want to cross the finish line! It will be hard work to get there, but again....

Nothing worth anything ever comes easy.

Mid month check in

I was thinking about what I was going to write to try to stay positive (pretty rough week so hard to be positive at this point when I'm just COOKED!). I looked through my October review and the goals I had set for November. At this point I'm doing pretty good.
The first week I only ran on Monday and Wednesday but I had a race that weekend on Sunday. Since then I have run 3 times a week though. I did over 5 miles on Monday night and have done at 3 miles a few times too. I haven't done 2 other things each week but I have done at least one other fitness thing each week, so that's good.
And 3 weeks ago I did go out with friends on the south shore. We had our ballroom dancing lessons and a big group of us went out for drinks after at a bar across the street. It was fun to hang out like that.
I'm glad I am staying up with the goals for the most part. That's nice. I know I have made so much progress with the fitness thing and by continuing to try and put more time in, I will only improve.
I do need to get new sneakers. I know mine are starting to wear out. I want a few other little purchases for myself too. I want a running stop watch so I can use it to train and improve my time. I want to get goggles for the pool. I think I burnt my eyes from the chlorine last night. And another bathing suit wouldn't hurt either. I would also like to get new winter running pants and a wrap around headband that covers my ears. Oh, and a running jacket to keep with the layers. Saw one at Marshall's that I want! Maybe I can get Santa to give me that too!

And then I also will need to start really writing down what I am doing. I want to keep a training log. I have a million fitness journals that I've gotten and never used over the years. It would be great to just keep a log so I can look back and see the improvement and know what worked.

I am pretty sure I might have one or 2 people joining me for the 1/2 marathon. They are keeping it open for 4 hours which is an 18 minute mile pace, so it is ok for walkers too. I think my friends Tracie and Jill will be joining me for it! Well, at least Jill for now. I'm going to try to talk Tracie into it. I think it might work! :)

At Thanksgiving approaches next week, I'm going to try to focus on all the positives and bitch and moan as much about the bs going on. Yeah, work was tough, but my new boss was much more receptive than I thought about the issues that I was concerned about. I have no money and I'm broke, but I manage. Been there and not anything new. I'll just have to continue being creative in how I figure things out. Christmas will be a challenge this year, but seeing as I'm planning on a ton of Gift Certificates, I might be ok to get them last minute. I think it will be ok.

SO that's where I'm at. I'm healthy, I'm training for a half marathon, I have great friends; old and new. Things are ok. Right now, things are ok.

Swimming

I hit the pool tonight and did laps for about a 1/2 hour. Felt pretty good. I did much better this time than I did at the pool last time. Still tough to get through all the laps, but just like doing the couch to 5K, I have to start somewhere. I'd like to start swimming more often so I can continue to improve with it. I do need to buy some goggles. My eyes are pretty sore right now.

I do have a bathing cap, but I don't know how to put it on yet! :( So I didn't wear it. I took a shower when I got home, but my hair still smells like chlorine. But I do feel good from swimming.

I'm taking tomorrow off from everything. Then Saturday I'll run again, hopefully 4 miles. I really want to take this 1/2 marathon training seriously. Swimming will be a great addition for me.

Hopefully I'll sleep well tonight but tomorrow is Friday! Ahh... Yay! :) Almost the weekend!

It's days like this that I'm grateful for being the group organizer of the fitness group. I'm tired and mentally spent. Kind of like I was on Tuesday night when I ended up completely blowing off my yoga class. And that was easy. No one was counting on me to be there and I was only letting myself down.

Tonight, I would SO much rather just lay on my sofa and do absolutely nothing all night. But I have swimming on our groups calendar. I know that one of the 4 is not showing up and another most likely won't either. The other 2 people have been no shows at events before so I'm not too confident in them going, but since it is on the calendar and I organized it... I have to go!

I'm still in my work clothes, under a blanket on my sofa right now. I set my alarm on my cell phone because I was starting to doze off and I was afraid I would really fall asleep and completely miss swimming! So now I have 7 minutes (didn't end up falling asleep after I set the alarm) until I need to move and change into my bathing suit with clothes to cover up and hit the pool across town.

My goal tonight? Not really sure. I want to do more than I did 2 weeks ago, but that won't be very hard. I barely swam that night. More chatting in the shallow end than anything else. So at least I have a bathing suit that fits now. Last time I had on an old 2 piece and the bottoms are too big, even though it was the smallest 2 piece I have. It kept feeling like I was losing the bottoms when I did a lap! SO now I have a real swimming 2 piece with a razor back. No losing anything.

If I can get in at least 20 laps (I think 1 lap is up and back), then that's progress from last time. And that's all I need is a little progress. Hopefully it won't be too much. I'm just tired and spent.

Been a while since I had a REALLY bad day at work. Kind of forgot. Today was a REALLY bad day. Dropping f bombs all afternoon. Not good. But tomorrow is Friday! REALLY looking forward to the weekend! And next week is a short week too!
8 hours. I can handle 8 hours tomorrow! :)

My shadow in the moonlight

Today was insane at work. I was mentally spent by noon and still had another 5 hours left. Not sure what I even did, but I was busy all day. Pretty sure tomorrow will be just as crazy.

When I left, I was looking forward to hitting the track for a run. I checked my fitness groups calendar for the rsvp list. Tracie was the only person who signed up and I knew she wasn't going. She's in CT for work this week. SO I went to the track.

No one else showed up. One guy was there when I got there, and as he was leaving another guy showed up. He left and one more showed up as I was leaving, the orange shirt guy (he wears an orange sweatshirt every time I see him and that's twice a week).

It really was a good night for a run. Cool and dry. I got in 3 miles. The back corner of the track was pretty dark but the moon was SO bright tonight. I actually saw my shadow in the moonlight. I thought that was kind of cool.

SO I finally remembered to check the time on my IPod when I started running. I ran for 35 minutes. I think next time I'll set the stop watch on the IPod to get an exact time. I want to push it and cut my time down.

My friend gave me her 1/2 marathon training schedule. It starts with 4 mile long runs and I'm already past that, so I think I can do that. And her schedule is an 11 week class and I have 15 weeks for this race. Ahh... Am I really thinking of doing a 1/2 marathon?? WOW! I really am! Freaking out. First I need to do the 10K then see if I really think I can do the 1/2, but I kind of want to.

This is pretty exciting. :)

The World of Blogs plus all about me

WOW are there a lot of blogs out there. Didn't really realize it for some reason. I guess there is something for everyone. The whole theme of this blog has changed since I first started it, but I have changed so much since I first started writing here. I still can't get over how much of a different person I am.

Anyway... enough about me. :)

I started surfing through some of the blogs I found on the blog hop link. Some I loved! I know I'll start following them. Others? Just not my thing. Again, something for everyone. And every has their own interests. But I do love reading different ideas and what is going on in other people's lives. Started with the soaps around 12, then the whole reality TV thing.

I ended up blowing off yoga tonight again. I feel like a jerk for missing 2 weeks in a row. I was SO tired tonight. Last night I was still awake at 1:30am. Pretty sad when I know the alarm was going off in 3 1/2 hours and I was still awake. I just didn't have the energy to move tonight.

Then I was on my fitness groups website. The same person who gets under my skin... yup, again. I really have done so much to distance myself from people who generate a negative reaction in me. I like being around happy, fun, positive people with great energy. But there are just some people in this world who get under my skin. For some reason, no matter what I do to stay away, I can't shake two of them! Really, on Survivor, people are voted off the island. Can I vote to put these 2 ON the island???

Just something about these two people. Let's see... Um, AC and NA, that's what I'll call them (hopefully I can remember that!) I work with AC. But now we are on different floors. I still have to see her rolling her eyes now and again and deal with the attitude she just give off, but I've put so much emotional distance between us, that it is getting better. But she just gives off BAD energy! I do NOT like being around her. And call me a nasty B, but today when I had things come up that she had done and messed up before? Yeah... made me feel REALLY good!

And the other one... NA. OH that one REALLY gets me. I just can't shake her. She's just constant. No matter how much I TRY to shake her, it doesn't work. WORSE than a bad penny! I even venting with a comment on facebook tonight about distance not working and people still getting under my skin.

I'm glad at least that I only have it down to the 2 of them. The people closest to me are amazing. I have worked really hard to have good energy in my life. If I have good people around me, that will help me stay positive and stay on the path I want. Took me a while to figure it out, but I'm glad I did.

Blog Hop!

I'm # 79!! :)

Love Sundays

After writing this morning, I FINALLY made it out of bed, took a quick shower and got to the park in time to meet everyone for a walk. We ended up doing 2 laps, so about 3 1/2 miles. It was fun catching up with some friends and meeting new faces too. My friend Betsey ended up walking with us last minute. And get this... that was AFTRER she ran a 1/2 marathon this morning! INSANE! But I'm so proud of her! Her 2nd 1/2 marathon this year. How cool is that?
I was chatting her up about running and my plan for training for the 10K. Since I do so much better running at night, I want to make Monday nights my long runs. Then do 3-4 miles on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Plus I want to keep in yoga on Tuesdays and do lap swimming a few times a week as well.
Already have my bag packed for tomorrow. After work I'll stop home to change to go running at the track and grab my bag when I go. That way I can stop at the pool to swim laps for a bit after the run. Read something on active.com today about an easy swim after a hard run is really good for the muscles and helps keep them from tightening up. Plus, I'm really dying to try out the new suit! :) I figure adding in swimming regularly to my routine will really help me out.

After the walk this morning, I went up to my parents house for the afternoon. My grandpa and aunt came over for dinner too. It was really nice to see them and hang out. My grandpa is SO cute! I'll have to think of something really good to do for him for Christmas.

Tonight when I got home, I found a journal I started about 2 years ago for my monthly class with the life coach. Now that I write here, I don't really use it much anymore. I read through all of my old entries. I really can't believe how much I have changed in the past 2 years. Just my frame of mind alone. I really I am a completely a different person at this point... just in the past 2 years. Incredible.

Two years ago, I hadn't done anything with meetup. I didn't exercise. I was a couch patatoe. I had several drama filled, negative people in close contact in my life. And overall I was just unhappy. I was unhealthy and sad.

In every possible way in my life, I really am the healthiest I have ever been. I don't remember ever being this happy and content, just in general. Not for a specific reason, not an event or something good happening... but just in general, I'm happy. I like my life. I like being active. I like how I spend my time.

On a side note... earlier tonight I was checking email while laying on my sofa. My big cat McGraw, the 20 pound cat, I think he forgot he's not a small kitten. He climbed up on the sofa, crawled next to me, then crawled on my chest. I couldn't see my laptop! I couldn't get my arms around him to type! He's been a snugglebug all night. I have a tiny space on the side of my sofa now with him taking up more than 1/2 of it next to me.

I am going to be SO tired tomorrow. I was tired earlier tonight and looking forward to sleeping well. The Pats game is still on at 11:30 now with about 7 minutes left on the clock for the 4th quarter. I'm tired, I want to go to bed, but I have to see how the game ends! Even though right now we are up by 19 points.

Anyway... busy week this week with the running, swimming, yoga and toss in work too! :) Need to have a good week for training and with Thanksgiving next week, want to be productive and have a good week workout-wise.

Lazy morning

I had pretty ambitious goals for this weekend. Yesterday was going to start my "long run" Saturday's. Then today I was going to take a yoga class at 10am and do a 3+ mile walk with my fitness group at 11:30.

Well, 10 people are meeting me for the walk which starts in about an hour... needless to say I did not make the 10am yoga class yet again. AND its FREE! I just couldn't get going. I need to shower and I just didn't want to move... so I didn't.

Yesterday I was not into the whole running thing. I jogged 1 1/2 miles, then walked a lap, jogged a lap, walked a lap, then jogged another 1 3/4 miles. SO in total ok, I got in 3 1/2 miles, but still. I was hoping for 5 straight solid miles.

I think I am going to make Monday or Wednesday nights my long runs instead. I just feel better running at night. I know eventually I will need to do long runs during the day to build up to running the race during the day, but for now I am going to go with what works for me. And after doing some more research on swimming.... guess it is good after a long run to help with the acid build up. I'm thinking that I pack a bag when I run tomorrow. If I do a long run and I'm up for swimming, then I could just stop at the pool on my way home and try for a 30 minute lap swim. Or at least see what I could do.

My goal is to try to get to the pool at least twice a week and build that into my workout routine along with running and yoga. I know I need to do some specific weight training to firm up some muscles. Even a 30 minute workout with hand weights and some squats and lunges. I could just make a routine and maximize what I'm doing... a lung with a bicep curl or a squat with an overhead tri pull down. We'll see. I just have to make the commitment to myself for that. I want to firm up.

I think its funny now. Originally it was about trying to just run a 5K. Done that. Then more fitness in general. Now I am more on my overall health, and really becoming as fit as I can. I love this!

Even though I slightly slacked yesterday at the track, it was still fun. I met my friend Tracie there. First we did 3 laps as a warm up, then all that running mix, then I we walked for at least 30 minutes, and then stretched. I was at the track for 2 1/2 hours with her! And it was a perfect fall day out too! It was great.

Ok, so I am now STILL laying in my bed. I need to get up and take a quick shower so I can go meet everyone for a walk. LOTS to do today! :)

Happy Sunday!