Wicked Workout Wednesdays may be temporarily postponed :(

Well, what a week, and it is only Wednesday. Will there ever come a time when I do not feel that I am working for the weekend? Because right now, that seems to be all I do, and my weekends aren't even that fun... oh well...

So Monday morning fail turned into a very sad evening. My faithful training partner, who calmed the storms of University, allowed me to run when it was rainy and dark outside, was there for me at all hours night or day appears to be on the verge of retirement...

After many years, long mileage runs, and two a days it appears this old girl has served her faithful time and is ready to be let go... I do not know how I feel about this and after Monday's speed session (speedy for me... 9 min mile, 3 x 8:44 min miles) I haven't gone back to try her out. Between the loud noise the belt makes when it is going through, and the fear of busting my knee by having my foot get caught, I think its time for me to bring my running clothes to work and start using the facilities here, or go outside during lunch... ya I don't know how I feel about either of those options as I'm used to busting it out and looking a hot mess in the comforts of my own home with no one watching....

Alas, moving on! DVD Tuesday began yesterday (after being postponed for two weeks) and it was awesome! Thank you Jillian Michaels, I don't think I will be able to sit and not engage my core muscles today.... I  have decided that along with DVD Tuesday, Tuesday will be my weekly weigh in as my friends scale tells me the numbers I actually care about... Body % Fat and BMI.... now those are numbers I can focus on and try to improve, weight on the other hand, well, muscles weighs more then fat blah blah blah you get the point.

So now with a treadmill temporarily out of order, how am I going to fit in Wicked Workout Wednesday... I have a feeling things are going to get creative, and weights, a deck of card, balancing ball, and skipping may be involved (yuck) oh well! A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do, and sometimes, you just gotta make it work with what ya got.

Anywho! Happy Wicked Workout Wednesday, we are half way through the work week (if you work a mon-fri job) and January is almost over! All in all plenty to be thankful for and Spring to look forward to :)

Will I ever be a Morning Person....

Despite my attempts to go to bed early, the thought of waking up before 6 is not only repulsive but impossible! Prior to this morning I had every intention of waking up at 5:45 to fit in a solid 6 or 7 mile run before work (on the treadmill about 20 steps away from my bedroom... 14 if I threw a bit of a hop and skip in my step).... So, yesterday I went to swim practice in the morning, didn't run and took the day easy (really easy, the most physical thing I did was go up and down the stairs with my laundry basket...) I went to bed nice and early and 5:45 am came along, I heard the alarm shut it off and continued to sleep for 30 minutes! Seriously, Monday morning fail!!!
  

                                'Don't be misjudge my positive fashion choice for a morning person'

Now, I know of so many people who wake up at that hour or earlier and they would read this and think, 'You have got to be kidding me', but honestly, I do not know how they do it. Unless it is Summer or I am in Hawaii I cannot get myself up and out of bed to go for a run it seems. Perhaps I just need to stop forcing myself to try and become something that is so unnatural to me... a 'Morning Person', and just embrace the fact that I'd rather do things later in the day.

So as Monday morning is upon us and the new week has begun, a new countdown can begin. It is officially less than 3 weeks until my first half marathon of the year. And as my co-worker asked me how my training was going I believe my reaction truly did sum it up if I'm being honest. Meh, its only a half... Seriously I have become one of those people now who is like sure it may be uncomfortable and I likely wont get a PR but I will finish it and for now that's what matters.

Blech, Monday mornings... I look forward to not meeting you for another 7 days, and I am not looking forward to compensating for your misfortunes after dinner on the Treadmill...

Does Painting count as a workout?

So I realize that my reasoning for creating this little blog seems to have failed as I am lacking on posting and thus keeping myself accountable... but I'm hoping that once next week has past I will be able to actually put some time and energy into this... more about that later (I know, annoying right... why even mention it?)

Anywho, so my wicked workout Wednesday, it actual turned into a wicked run... ya 7 miles on the treadmill refusing to get off the darn thing! It felt great! It was good to finally get some mileage into my runs, and mentally it is just such a relief to exceed the 6 miler mark.. For me, once I pass 4 miles, they all begin  to meld together. I think every runner has that point, at some distance or another when it becomes easy... Unfortunately there is an end to that (mine is likely around 14 miles... meaning that for a half i'm totally fine once I pass the 4 mile mark but for the full I somewhat end up dying and wanting to cry once I hit 14 miles and often you can see the half marathoners finish as you are forced to carry on...)

Anyways! So last Wednesday, awesome run! Pretty sure I took Thursday off if I can recall correctly, and then Friday my big project began. For my moms birthday (which is in December) I had given her a card with a paint swatch in it, indicating that I would repaint the downstairs rec room (the last room in the house that needed to be redone!) for her birthday and Christmas present... yes I know many are opposed to combined gifts, but most of my family is born in November and December so funds are tight and ideas become limited.... I mean sure she wanted gift cards for her koboo reader but seriously, how lame would that be?!

So, this weekend my parents were gone so I figured it was the perfect time to redo the basement! I did the taping and filling on Friday evening, and then Saturday I did the first coat of paint in the morning turned the heat on, ate a late lunch and did the second coat. On Sunday I  went to Swim Practice, and then came home before my parents got there and quickly moved the furniture around... does anyone know how heavy a treadmill is? Let me tell you, that was a precarious situation I found myself in but alas, the furniture was moved!

They came home were surprised, I still had to do one wall and a bit due to the set up of the room (the tv and ALL of its accessories needed to be moved before I could get to that wall) so Monday and Tuesday were spent to coat number one and coat number 2 in that area. So now, Wednesday is here once again, and it has been a week since I've run *gulp* oops.....

Well, painting worked muscles in my arms and hands I did not know existed, or perhaps their lack of existence is why I was sore... So, hopefully that plus the permanent squats I was doing means that tonight when I try to tackle a run it will not completely suck...

Oh and by the way, swimming on Sunday was great, had a bit of a break through and in someways it was completely depressing in realizing that having taken so much time off from it the strokes had changed so much.... Oh well, perhaps I will be proof that sometimes, once in a while, you can teach an old dog new tricks... if it isn't too stubborn to give it  a shot...

So whatever you are up to today, just remember, you are halfway through the week, the weekend is in your grasp, so even though you may bribe yourself with the thought of bed right after work go for a walk, a quick run or a home circuit while watching your favorite wednesday night show... whatever gets the blood flowing :)

Happy Wicked Workout Wednesday!!!

Getting Back to It...

Getting back into it... the Holidays are officially over, the business of the start of the School Year is slowing down in the work place, meaning returning to regular work hours.

With all of this being said, I made a new playlist this weekend to help motivate me when I'm running. I know it is so silly, but seriously an updated playlist with a few new songs or just a rearrangement of old ones makes for a whole new running experience in my books! (This is also when having a treadmill in your house comes in handy, because if you start busting a move or singing while running there are no eye witnesses... not that I would do this but hypothetically speaking).

Last week was a good week, I threw a 5 miler in the mix on Thursday, and then a 4 miler on Saturday and a 3 miler on Sunday. Monday I took the day off and on Tuesday I was supposed to do a new Jillian Michaels workout DVD, but I had a horrid sleep the night before and was at work for 7 am (meeting in Vancouver... for a morning I was like an important person). The whole tossing and turning, and freaking out about the prospect of being late for work resulted in me being rather lazy in the evening and soaking in a bubble bath with water so hot I'm pretty sure I sweated enough that it was like I did an H-core run! (same effect right?... No hmm alright). *Side Note, mothers whether they stay at home or work I have no idea how they do it all and manage to fit in time to workout...I'm one person and I EXHAUST myself!!!*

So anyways, seeing as today is Wednesday, aka humpday, aka 2 more work days until the weekend tonight I'm going to try and make it count. Workout DVD plus a run on the treadmill while watching Chicago Fire? I think so! Lame sauce Wednesday is going to be wicked work out Wednesday!(or thats my story while I'm sitting on my butt at work... come 4: 30 hopefully I will be singing the same tune!!)

Wild Card Weekend and Running while Flailing

Hey, so I definately started writing this post earlier this week, but with how crazy the work week has been here it is a little late being put up:

Sat: first run of 2013 outside... not even 3 miles (it sucked) 
Sun: 1 hour swim practice
Mon: 3 miles on the treadmill

Wild Card Weekend (NFL) was this weekend, meaning that I was enthusiastically glued to the television; especially while the Seahawks were playing. Well the first 13 minutes had me a bit worried, I quickly realized that I needed to eat celery, 4 pieces to be exact, in order to ensure the Hawks success (remember, it's only weird if it doesn't work)... So after swim practice on Sunday morning, I hit the couch hard and watched the end of the Baltimore Indy game and the whole Seahawks vs Redskins game...

So, since being sick over Christmas holidays, I have been attempting to run, and mentally I think that I have the same physical capacity as before... but when the cold reality on Saturday morning while out on my 'run' the real wake-up call came... Apparently being sick, not eating much and not moving really wiped me out...

This New Year is not taking off how I had hoped it would... instead of enjoying a glorious 6 mile run outside I didn't even last 3 miles, I was cold, my lungs felt like they were being ripped out of my body and I slowed down had the cold rain absorbed in my clothes and angrily stomped home feeling like a running poser... *sigh* alas, I am not Wonder Women or some Crazy Runner girl full of amazing running capabilities, I am me. I struggle, some days running is easy, and others it completely sucks... but at the end of the day, as long as I tried, extend a bit of grace and understanding it is all good in my books :)

Holiday Goals out the Window!

Well, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! For the past two years I have gotten sick over the Christmas season, this year I was determined to not get sick on Christmas... so the eve of the 26th came and I was sick sleeping on the couch with Vicks and a towel wrapped around my throat... Awesome :(

Anyways, since I had been battling a cold for the past 2 - 3 weeks I decided that if my body truly wanted to be sick I was going to let it in hopes of kicking this terrible bug/sore throat/ cold whatever it was... So bring on the NyQuil, Cold FX, Vitamin C, Throat Losengers etc... I wanted to sleep and knock this thing out of my system. The cold combined with being away (I was in Seattle the weekend before Christmas and the weekend after) resulted in no running taking place for 7 + days! Which is crazy for me, but seriously needed (one night I slept 13 + hours!!!)

So, what did I learn from this Christmas season and holiday experience... all of my tips for fitting in the workouts didn't work. Short days, travel and the hustle and bustle of family and Christmas and needing copious amounts of sleep resulted in no time to run... But at the end of the day, thats okay. What is a week or two without running? My identity is not completely locked in to me running (just slightly) and taking a break does not make me 'not a runner'.

Now, back to work, back to routine and back to running. Tomorrow is going to be the first outdoor run of 2013 and I'm hoping for a good one. So, whatever it is you are up to this weekend, I hope you have a great time and if you see a girl who looks like she is dying running outside, that just may be me. :)