charlatan psychic

Been a while, I know. But I'm back from vacation just in time to start a new WW week. I only gained 2 pounds in the 2 weeks I was on vacation. Which I think isn't bad at all. I ate out the whole time, shared appetizers with J every night, and even had some snacks and dessert. I pigged out, and only gained 2 pounds. Not too shabby. So now it's back to work. Back to tracking and making the healthy choices. I will push myself on a long run this weekend and next, since the weekend after that is the half marathon. I keep playing with the idea of trying some strength classes at the gym, but in reality, I know I won't stick with it. They just aren't at good times for me. The best classes are during the day when I'm usually busy with other things. So I really need to stick with the pilates DVD. I am starting one new class however. The housing office here has started offering free belly dance classes once a week. I haven't done any belly dancing since leaving Kan...

I had a blessedly quite Christmas this year. J and I took a week away from everything to relax and have fun with no drama, no stress, no worries. Thanks to Mom and Dad for booking us a one bedroom condo at their time-share location in Red River, NM . We left Remy in the capable hands of Barkerhaus Kennels , and left Duke at home with a good friend coming to check on him. We drove up into the mountains of New Mexico. It was rainy on the drive up. What we didn't know until we got there is that the roads all around us were closing for snow. Lots of snow and ice closing the highways and interstates all around. But as we headed East on highway 38, we saw first a mining operation, then a few houses and  lodges. We rounded the corner onto the main street of a little mountain town all lit with white christmas lights. It was worth the rainy drive for that. We checked in and bundled up to walk the 1 block to the main street and find some dinner. We barely drove the whole week. There wa...

Yes, we call him that sometimes. Took him in for a 6 month follow-up. His teeth are getting bad again. There are a couple that don't look good. So he's getting a cleaning when we get back from christmas vacation, and might get some more teeth pulled. Poor kitty. Otherwise, he's doing OK. He lost half a pound, which isn't bad over 6 months. He weighs 12.1 pounds right now, which is a good weight for him. He still eats all his food, which is a great sign, and still insists on drinks from the tub. I'm pretty sure he drinks from his bowl, but not when I'm paying attention. So I'll keep letting him drink from the tub. It's cheaper than more vet bills! I'm going to have to deal with the fact that my kitty won't be one of those really old, live forever cats. The chronic gum disease seems to be getting bad sooner (if that makes sense). I've had Duke for 6 1/2 years now. He's my fat cat. He snuggles. He tries to groom my hair. He plays with wa...

There's an organization I volunteer with. I feel some obligation to volunteer with this group because it makes my husband look good, too. But lately, there is SO. MUCH. DRAMA. We have someone who refuses to lead the group but acts like she leads the group, she pushes teamwork, but then finds fault in everything certain people do. We have another lady who is just crazy. I mean crazy. She seems to be creating paperwork where there doesn't need to be paperwork, and then complains about how much work she has. Two people are now quitting this group. I happen to like these people and get along with them. Rather well actually. So that leaves me, the two mentioned above, and two brand new people who apparently didn't realize what they were getting into. I'm afraid the newbies will be leaving too when they find out we lost two members. We have become exactly the kind of group we were supposed to avoid. My obligation to this group will be changing (i.e. no more) soon (1 t...

155 today. That's only 2 pounds lost this month, but hey, that's not bad for having 3 thanksgiving meals! Today was the roll out of the new WW site. They changed the looks of things, and the points, just a little. Whatever they did, it put me down from 29 to 26 daily points. But hey, maybe it will keep me losing more regularly. Maybe. It's cold here today. Well, cold for here. High today is 52. Although when I checked last night, today's high was in the upper 40s. I've noticed that lately with the weather forecasts here. You can't rely on accurate temps until the day of, and then only sometimes. I have not been working out. Busy, and cold, and tired and stressed. Excuses, all, I know. But it is what it is. I really need to get running if I'm going to do this half marathon in January. I already signed up. I just need to get moving again. Looks like this will be a short one today. Just not much to say. Eh.

I keep thinking I should check the grammar on this weekly post, since Spanish uses gender, but then I tell myself it's a song quote and I don't have to worry about it. I'm lazy that way. Anywho, I didn't even track my weight in WW this week. Bad girl, I know. But it's Thanksgiving! I let myself cheat big time on Thanksgiving day. I had seconds. Of all the starches. But OMG were they delicious. Then I had 2 desserts. Yes, I'm a very bad girl. However, I did make up for some of it today. J and I went on a bike ride. We only rode together for the first couple miles, then J took off. He, of course, went much faster and farther than I. I managed to keep an average 13 mph speed (super slow) and did a total of 34 miles. That's a distance record for me. I did 30 miles a month ago for the Tour De Tolerance, so I pushed myself with this. My thighs and knees were screaming at me when I finished. So let me share a little trick with you all. Or y'all, since I d...

156 today. That breaks a 2 week plateau. Just gotta keep it up over next week. I have Thanksgiving with my folks on Sunday, a book club thanksgiving on Monday, and thanksgiving again at our good friends' house on Thursday. Fortunately, most of us are watching our weight and/or healthy eaters. I can't really say what broke that 2 week plateau. I didn't really eat any differently, and didn't work out as much. I was a little more stressed this last week, though. Maybe stress is good for my weight loss. I'd rather it wasn't so I could just avoid stress. I do not handle stress well. It gives me hibernation urges - I just want to hide away from the whole world. I did pull out my pilates video on Wednesday. It's harder to do pilates when you have an energetic pup that wants all your attention. But I did it, and could really feel it in my thighs yesterday. I think I will keep that up. I do like pilates. It makes me feel pretty good. We have a ball tonight. I a...

I stupidly decided to browse around at  www.petfinder.com  tonight, and found Jaxx , an Irish Wolfhound, Great Dane mix. This dog is so beautiful. I've loved Irish Wolfhounds since I first say one in a dog show on TV. They are so gorgeous. I can't rescue this dog. We aren't supposed to have more than 2 animals in our house without a waiver (that apparently isn't easy to get), J doesn't want and won't let me get another dog, and Remy is quite the handful himself. But I want to rescue this little guy. I actually started looking at the dogs after I emailed the Great Dane Rescue of El Paso  about the possibility of volunteering there. I spent a little while volunteering at another shelter (on the far westside of El Paso) before we moved on post. I loved the animals and some of the volunteers, but it was very unorganized, and I couldn't stand the shelter's owner. I felt like they didn't know what to do with me on some days that I went in to volunteer,...

My first real Friday weigh-in - 157. Yep, same as last week. I am reminding myself that I changed my weigh-in day and added circuit training all in one week. The workout is feeling good, so I'm going to give it another week. I should probably take some measurements again as well, since I haven't done that in a month or more.  Wow. I forgot to finish this post this morning. It's now late afternoon.  Not much to say today, so I'll just make this a short and sweet one. 

Yes, it deserves 2 exclamation marks. I love Halloween. I always have. I think it's because I like dressing up in costumes. Sure, I like candy, especially chocolate, but I think it was always more about the costumes for me. However, I find myself getting lazy. As I sit here handing out candy, I'm wearing the same clothes I wore to run errands this afternoon, with the addition of my adorable spider hat. I didn't feel like bothering with the whole costume thing. I thought about just putting on my star trek dress, but that was a little warm. So I'm sitting at my dining room table, blogging, facebooking, google+ing, and drinking beer. Yes, beer. I have the Ghost Hunters live episode playing on the TV in the other room even though I can't see it from the table. I have Remy at my feet waiting for the time when I let him outside to see the kids. Duke is doing his own thing. He watched the action for a couple minutes and decided it didn't suit him. He seems to pre...

I made a decision this morning. I changed my weight tracking day to Friday. I weighed myself Thursday or Friday morning and was down to 157. My Sundays tend to be either early or late. I'm either getting up early to do something, or sleeping in. It's been rather inconsistent lately. And I tend to do my splurging over the weekend and eat better during the week. If we eat out, it's usually Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. I also noticed the past couple weeks that I'm not using a lot of my weekly points all the time. So if my week starts on Friday, I can use weekly points, and then think about earning them back with activity points for the rest of the week. I think this will help me focus a little more and keep losing weight. I also need to get started on strength training. I will have a lot of time on my own this week. I might get out my circuit routine I did 2 years ago and start doing that 3 days a week. I'm thinking do ST on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and pure card...

No, not me. Sorry, big sister. I can't believe I haven't blogged about this yet. I'm going to be a godmom! My BFF Misty is pregnant with her first kid. Holy Crap! Misty's gonna have the bebes! Sorry. Anyway, She is pregnant, and I am super excited. Seriously, this is more excited than I would be for my own kid. Probably because I am not interested in having one, but anyway. It's still the first trimester, so don't know gender. I need to ask if they are going to even find out! Oh my goodness. I will be making a baby quilt. They already have names picked out. I'm getting either a Damien or a Sophie. Part of what excites me about this, is I can buy the kind of baby things I always think are so cool and funny, but that others just wouldn't get. Like punk baby things, and rocker baby things, and goth baby things. And the parents will actually put it on the baby! I'm still somewhat in shock thinking about my best friend having a baby. I do wish I w...

Time for another peek into the life of me. I often speak in random accents. English, Australian, Scottish, Ghetto, Jamaican (not a good one), and various weird voices push their way into my speech. J will tell you all about it. He calls me his personal sound board and constantly tells me I should do voices for cartoons. Usually, the accents are totally random. I don't know when or why they pop up. It will be in regular conversation, or a comment I make. J is very entertained by all of this. Please understand that any labels I assign here are the stereotypes and not what I think of the actual people. Big Black Guy White Trash Barbie Cockney Snobby British Scottish weirdo Scottish Irish Australian Black Southern Old Man Black Woman Valley Girl Olive Oil (yes, Popeye's girl) Minnesotan and various others When I hear an accent of any kind, I have a tendency to pick it up. I try very hard to not mimic an accent when the person with said accent is present. It...

Had an awesome run this morning. It was definitely chilly to start, but I warmed up quickly. Went with the tank and arm warmers, and I'm glad I did. Felt great, except for a runny nose. Stupid allergies. Finished in 2 hours, 19 minutes, 32 seconds. Hells yeah! That's 10 minutes faster than my training run! What little hillage (yes, I made up that word) there was felt easy after training on Haan bridge. I was very happy and finished with a strong sprint. J on the other hand, not so lucky. He said he was doing great and set to finish with a Personal Record, but then his left knee started to hurt. Turns out he irritated his  Iliotibial band  (IT band), and we think it's because he didn't do as much training as he wanted to. So his time was very slow for him. And painful. Yet he finished, and managed to walk back to the hotel with me. We did stop at the med tent where they wrapped it and put ice on it. We stopped for lunch on the way back to the room, at the same bar ...

I'm in a hotel room with a comfy bed and fake fireplace on which the heater doesn't work (still have the regular AC unit). Had a great lunch at a fun little bar and a lovely Italian dinner complete with tiramisu for dessert. Got my race bib pinned on and my stuff all laid out for tomorrow. Have the bag we're taking with us (to leave at the bag drop) packed and marked with our name. We even picked up some bagels to have for breakfast and I prepped the little coffee pot so we just have to turn it on. We'll get up around 0500 tomorrow to eat, take a hot shower (mostly for J's cold), and get dressed. A little before 6 we will walk over to the start/finish. We walked it earlier to pick up our race packet. Just 5 blocks east and 2 blocks north. I bought a Bondi Band  headband at the pathetic expo. It's burgundy and says, "You don't smell like a princess anymore!" J's race leaves at 0700. I'll get his warm-ups and put them in the bag. Then I...

Did our 50K bike ride (31 miles) this morning in 2 hours 11 minutes. J would have been much faster, but he went at my pace. The ride supports the  El Paso Holocaust Museum , which of course is a cause dear to my heart. It felt pretty good out there, but damn, my butt hurts. I have chafe in a bad spot. But it was nice to get out and ride. Definitely need to do that more often. I do have some plans to take a spin class at least once a week with a friend, but I won't start till after the half marathon. Which is next week, by the way! One week away! I think today was a good prep. I did an endurance exercise by didn't run. So, my weigh-in was today. I maintained, which is in line with what I expected. I knew that not meeting my minimum points 2 days in a row was not good for me. But I didn't gain, and I will learn from this and try to plan ahead more. Not giving up that easily! Aaaaaaand yeah. That's all I got.

I didn't messed up a little on the diet this week. No, I didn't go over my points. I went under. Two days in a row, I didn't hit my daily minimum. First was Thursday, and I was nervous which killed my appetite. Then Friday, we ate out, and I thought the pizza would be much higher in points than it really was, but didn't enter it till this morning. If I had known that, I would have had dessert! I did eat a good helping of fruit yesterday, which is 0 points, but helped fill me up. When I started the sparkpeople plan previously, I found out that I wasn't eating enough some days. I would just have days where I wasn't hungry, sometimes for no reason at all. I would eat a little and be full. Back in high school and college, I would forget to eat. Nothing intentional, just literally forget to stop and get some food. My body doesn't always tell me that it's hungry. I've had to learn to schedule my meals so that I eat. It's not nearly as bad as it use...

Apparently, Westboro Baptist Church is protesting a funeral here in El Paso, TX tomorrow, for a Marine who died in Afghanistan. Having lived in KS, I saw, read, and heard tons about Westboro. That whole group is a train wreck. Unfortunately, it's the kind you find it hard to look away from. J and I have both been protested, in a way. A guy I went to college with, my piano teacher's son, actually grew up in Topeka, KS, close to the Westboro church. I remember him telling us once about their weekly protests right on their church grounds. How he and his friends would tease them. They would politely offer a donut, and get hatred spewed at them. Of course, with Topeka being so close to Lawrence, KS (where we lived), they showed up a lot. If you are a hippy, pot-smoker, or otherwise non-conservative in KS, chances are you live in Lawrence. So needless to say, Westboro didn't like a lot of stuff that happened in our town. They came to protest some event on the KU campus once...

Well, for me anyway. I just did the Transmountain Challenge 5K in 27 minutes and 46.7 seconds. ho-ly crap That beats my previous best by 3 whole minutes. It means I ran a sub 10min mile. In fact, it would be a 9:15 and some change. I saw someone I've met before, before we got started. She's a spin class instructor, personal trainer I think, and super fit. I knew she and her friend were trying to finish under 30 minutes, so I paced off them on the way out. We went 1.5 miles uphill. I pushed myself pretty hard to keep pace with them. At the turn around, I let myself fly down the hill. They both finished before me, but not by too much. It was an awesome run. J also had a great run. Best time for transmountain for him. And transmountain is it's own level of race, because the first half is all uphill. So great day for both of us. Next year, I'll do the mountain. If we're still here that is. 

What? A day early? What in the world is wrong with me? I decided to weigh in today instead of tomorrow. We'll be up earlier than usual tomorrow for the Transmountain Challenge. I have to take J to the start on the westside and then get myself to the finish on the eastside, without taking the transmountain shortcut. And I don't do early mornings that well. Plus, today is Yom Kippur . Now, I have never fully practiced Judaism, but a few years ago, I read up on the High Holy  Days and J and I decided it fit where we were in our lives at that moment - starting a new year, trying to put the past behind us and moving on with a clean slate. Yom Kippur calls for a fast. I mean a full fast, with just sips of water to get by if you need that. Of course, if there is any medical reason for you to not fast, don't fast. The first year, we didn't do a full fast. We each had a natural fruit juice to drink and drank water. The next 2 times we would have some water, but that was it...

Lost another 1.5 pounds on weigh in today. That puts me at 161 with 7 pounds lost. I'm going to be careful this week and try to eat better than last week so I can get under 160 next Sunday. That would put me at my first goal of 5% of my starting weight, and also put me just barely lower than I got with Sparkpeople. Did another 13 mile run this morning. About the same time as last week, but without the foot pain. I did have some odd pain in the big join of my big toe for a little bit, but I walked a minute and stretched my foot and it went away. That was at mile 2. At the same spot on the way back, mile 11, I had some ankle pain and had to walk that out. It was very slow the last 2 miles home. But finishing without that foot pain felt great. And it took me longer to hit the proverbial runner's wall this time. After a nice shower, J and I rode our bikes to the PX for some lunch. It's only 1.5 miles from our house, and we can take a smaller street with less traffic, so we ...

I didn't post last week, but didn't lose any weight either. Didn't gain, but didn't lose. That's what I get for weighing in the morning after Oktoberfest! haha. This morning was a 1.5 pound loss. Puts me at 162.5 which I am happy with. I did eat a big dinner last night, too. This morning I ran 13 miles. First time. Longest run ever. I finished in 2.5 hours. I kept a good pace. Only issues are a blister on 1 toe and a lot of muscle pain in my left arch. Of course, I was running in a brand new pair of shoes. That's right, I got new shoes! J and I went to Dillard's on Saturday and I tried on both the 8 and 8.5. I went with the larger size. Felt so much roomier in my toes. And I got gray with purple accents instead of black. They're pretty. Me likey. I rubbed the muscles in my foot and let the hot water in the shower relax them a little. Good enough to walk around a little at the PX and Commissary. Definitely feeling better, but still sore. I think i...

As I was putting on my Merrells for a 3 mile run this morning, I noticed the light shining through where there should be no light. Yup, I have a hole. It's in the arch of my left foot. They are dirty, yes. They need washed. Of course this all had to happen just 1 month from the half marathon. I just got a new sports bra because the other one was too big. I just got new running tights because the others got a hole. Now my shoe has a hole. Ugh. Might be headed to Dillards this weekend for a new pair. I added up the miles I've run just for training, not counting the repeat weeks, to 134.5 miles. That's not counting the repeat of my 10 mile week (7 more miles not including the failed 10 miles) or the repeat last week (another 7 miles) since I didn't run after Oktoberfest. Plus put a few other repeats, random runs, and some walking in all of that. Since July. If you look for advice on when to replace running shoes, you'll see anywhere from 300 to 500 miles, 6 mo...

I registered for the half marathon. J registered for the full. I would book our hotel room, but the hotel's website isn't working right now. I'll try again later. It's within walking distance from the start/finish point, but less expensive than the sponsor hotel right by that point. If the site isn't working tomorrow, maybe I'll call the sponsor hotel and find out what the special rate for runners is. Although they charge for parking. I did find some new running pants. J went shopping with me this morning. Second store had a good pair. Adidas. They hit just below my knee, they have decent reflective striping, a pocket for my mp3 player, and a drawstring waist. They are black with white stripes. And not too expensive. I'm a little nervous, but not horribly so. I think I'll feel better after I get a 13 mile run done. Which probably won't be tomorrow. I will probably be a little hungover tomorrow. Might try for Monday, but I may just wait till next ...

I finally got that new sports bra. Went with Enell. Found out they carry them for a great price through AAFES, but not at my PX. So I went to the running store, and it was on sale for 20% off. Not too bad. I also went down a size. I tried on a size 1 first, then a 2. I could see right away how the 2 was looser in the shoulders and had more bounce. So I got the 1. Yay! Down one sports bra size! I also need no running tights. I usually run in some capri length tights I bought at Target. I love them, but this morning I found a hole. It's right on the seam of the upper inner thigh. Cannot fix it. And it's in a bad spot, one that started to chafe after just 3 miles this morning. They didn't have much at the running store. I also went to Kohl's, a Big5 sports, and Target. Oh, and the PX. Target had one pair in my size, but I felt like it was severely lacking on reflective surfaces. It had a little logo and about 2 inches of reflective. That's it. Fit well, but I didn...

But first - last night's run. J and I both ran the 8K at the German American Night Run here at Bliss. This is our third year running it, but my first year doing the 8K. Last 2 years I just did the 5K. And I did better than I expected. Why didn't I expect to run well? I'm a morning runner. I'm used to getting up and going out the door. I might eat an energy bar if it's a long run. Running in the evening means running with a day's (or most of a day's) worth of food in your stomach, after doing whatever it is you did all day. We did a short 3 mile run Thursday night, and my calves cramped so bad I couldn't keep running. So I didn't have the highest hopes for Saturday night. We got there early and I did a tiny bit of warm-up before the race. I was able to keep just over a 10 minute pace. I finished at 51 minutes 14 seconds. Pretty good considering my training pace is about a 12 minute mile. After the race, we had a real German bratwurst and a real ...

I posted just the other day about my sports bra thoughts. After some online shopping, I realized that the Shock Absorber is really comparable to the Enell in terms of price. So now, I may as well just get another Enell. I can buy it at a local store and already know my size. Hold that thought. I better measure my ribcage again. I may have lost an inch or two there, and if I did, it puts me in a different place on the Enell size chart. See, a yearish ago, when I bought my first one, my rib measurement was a size 2, but bust was a size 3. The 3 was obviously too big when I put it on, so I got a size 2. Since then, my bust has lost half an inch (hey, that's a lot for me!), and I think my ribs may now fall under a size 1, while bust is closer to size 2. Guess I will have to try them on again. I am so glad our local running store carries Enell so I have the option of trying them on! (BTW, they have their own, unique size chart.) So, speaking of running, I signed J and I up for the G...

Remember how I said I would get some runs in at McKelligan Canyon? I finally followed through on that. J's platoon was doing PT there this morning, and Remy decided I should be up at 0530, so Rem and I hitched a ride with J. It took me an hour to run about 4 miles, but that's uphill half the way! I think we did pretty good. Much better than I could have done a year ago! It felt good to get out there. I really would love to be one of those people who runs every day just for fun. Ok. Most every day. Gotta have some days off. I most definitely need to get a second sports bra for running. I'm considering getting 2. I found a great review that compared the Shock Absorber to the Enell. She seems to prefer the Enell in the end, but gave great marks to the Shock Absorber. My thoughts? Maybe I could get the SA for shorter, easy runs and use Enell for the long runs. Rotate not just bras, but styles as well. Hmmm, let's see if I can find a sale on SA sports bras. Have to ord...

I have done one whole week on the Weight Watchers Online plan. I lost 2 pounds. I think getting under 165 will feel like a bigger achievement for me. I haven't been able to get below that this year. My Plan - I have 29 daily points to use. I'm supposed to use all of them, and trust me, I do. I also have 49 weekly allowance points to use. Plus, I get activity points. I love that. I have it set up to use my activity points (which build for the whole week) before using my weekly allowance points. I do wish the activity points were more specific. I think I probably "walk the dog" faster than other people. My dog likes to go. I was pretty happy this morning to get on the scale and see that I'd lost a couple pounds. I finally took some measurements this morning, too: waist, hips, bust, and thigh. My natural waist has actually gone down since last time I measured it. Hips I think were about the same. Bust went down half an inch! Holy crapola! As long as the bust doe...

Did not run 11 miles today. I completed 11 miles, but the last half was mostly walking. I started out really slow, like over my usual 12 minute mile. I knew in the first mile that it would not be a great run. I reached the turn around point, and made it maybe 1 mile before I just started getting slower and slower. There were a few points where it was all I could do to just keep walking. My body just wanted me to sit down. I've also been pretty tired this past week. And hungry. Like grazing-all-day hungry. J and I discussed my slump at lunch. This makes 2 weeks of slump. Maybe it's something I'm eating too much of, or not enough of. Maybe it's something else. Maybe a combo. Hard to say. I told him that I was thinking of doing the Weight Watchers thing, and maybe that would also help me balance my diet. I think I'm going to try it. I'm going to start fresh, at a time when J is home, so I can get used to eating healthy around him. Which means when he is gon...

I'm thinking of jumping on it. The Weight Watchers (WW) Bandwagon, that is. Two of my friends are currently using WW, and having good results. One is having amazing results. Two more friends are about to start it. I'm starting to wonder if I should give it a try. If you read this regularly, or have know me a while, you know that I previously lost weight following Sparkpeople.com. And then I gained it back. I haven't been able to get back down to that 160, but I have shaved off more inches since I started training for the half marathon. Dropped a pants size, and pretty sure I can fit into Grandma Shirley's black dress, if someone zips it up for me. Hard to zip. But I feel like I could be doing so much better. I know I don't eat well. I know I eat more than I should. I absolutely suck at tracking my food on sparkpeople anymore. I wonder if thinking of it in terms of points would make it easier for me to track and stick with it. I also need to start some streng...

I wanted to put my new bike pedals on the bike this weekend. By myself. But for the life of me, I could not get the current pedals to loosen at all. Even standing on the wrench didn't work. FAIL So this morning I got up early and headed out the door for week 2 of 10 miles. Second FAIL of the weekend. Calves started cramping. Now usually I can run the cramps out after a mile, but these just kept getting worse. It didn't happen. I walked home. Now let me give a little background. I'm slightly paranoid about injuring myself at this point. When I first started running 2 years ago, I sprained my right ankle. A few times. Once bad enough that the doc gave me a brace for it. I don't want to sprain that ankle again. It would take a few weeks and put me back in my training. So I walked home. I ate breakfast. I took a shower. Just waiting for J to get home from his leaders retreat. No clue what we're doing for dinner tonight. might just go out. oh, on a side note,...

Got my Conch pierced! Sounds dirty, but its just another ear piercing. It's the cartilage about midway up the side of my right ear, and in farther than a lobe piercing. Can you see the little silver ball in the middle of my ear? Can you see the kitty behind me on the couch? My friend got her conch pierced, too. On her left ear. She went first, and I was so excited I couldn't sit still.  It didn't hurt much to actually pierce it. Hurt for a little after that, just kinda sore. Feels pretty good right now! It's a banana bar in there, which makes it easy to twist so it doesn't get all stuck and scabby. Grossing you out yet? Chris, the piercer, said I can switch it out after 2 weeks. I'll probably wait closer to 4. Not sure what I'll put there. Maybe just a stud, maybe a hoop. Might get both so I can switch it up. I'm thinking I need a hoop and a jewel stud. That way I have options. Plain silver ball, hoop, or bling. 

I'm having one today. Woke up tired this morning. Had a hard time getting moving. But Remy needed to go outside, so I got up. Today is a run day, 4 miles. I went on my run. The first mile was hard, but I kept going. I think I was only about a quarter mile from done when I stopped. I was very out of breath. It took longer than usual to get my breathing under control. I'm still feeling rather tired and sluggish. I was sweatier than usual as well, but it's a little humid out. J was home early this morning, already showered and dressed when I got back from my run. So he cooked me breakfast while I showered. Egg sandwich. Very tasty. I drank a whole bottle (2 servings) of a Naked juice, too. I'm wearing my super comfy sundress today, simply because it's super comfy. I'm very tired, still. I'm actually thinking of a nap this morning, before I head over to the scentsy party. Because after the party, I have to hit the store to pick up stuff for the FRG meeting...

1 hour 52 minutes 30 seconds. Averaged about an 11:30 pace. I'm starting to find chafe spots after these long runs. Had one last week, on my hip, and only figured out today that it's right where my MP3 player sits on my hip. Might have to start putting that in a pocket on my new water belt. I had a couple chafe spots under my boobs from a bra that wasn't sitting right earlier this week. One of those is aggravated. I can put body glide on before my sports bra to help with that. And today I have some small red spots in my armpits. Not bad, but just starting to chafe. I also forgot to put deodorant on this morning, which might take care of that. I'm repeating this week of training, so next weekend is another 10 mile. I can work on fixing little problems like this. And try the e-gel I bought. Today I used the Chomps and a gel from Stinger and liked both. I bought a new Nathan water belt, but I'm using my Camelbak bottle in it because I can leave the spout open a...

Sometimes I feel this incredible urge to write. I may have written about this before. But it's back. I feel like I have all these ideas for amazing stories floating around in my head, but I can't seem to get them out. I've never been much of a prose writer. I could BS an essay like nothing in college, but a short story? That was hell. I used to write poetry. In high school it probably averaged around a poem every other day. Or more. But it was childish poetry. It was about the emotions a high schooler feels. My poetry started to mature in college. I could pump out a sonnet at breakfast for a friend's assignment that morning. But my poetry was still based on emotion. Usually darker emotions. Pain, sadness, loneliness. Those were my main inspirations. Then I met someone. I fell in love with him. I was happy with him. I still am happy with him. The pain and loneliness went away. No more inspiration. I have tried to write happy poems, but  they seem to fail me. I'...

Remy and I were doing good on our 4 miles this morning. He was behaving and we had a great pace going. As we ran past Pershing gate, a couple of stray pit bulls came up to us, one brown, one white. I always stop when a dog approaches us, in case it's owner is right behind trying to catch it. So we stopped. The dogs started sniffing each other. It was OK, and I was going to try to get them to follow us home so I could call animal control. But they started nipping at Remy and trying to push him around. Remy didn't like that. I didn't like that. It took a little, but I was able to smack both the bulls and they realized I wasn't backing down. Another runner came over to help, a mom pushing a double stroller stopped to help, and a third guy showed up as animal control pulled over. The first runner and I worked on wrangling the bulls over to the AC officer, and the mom held Remy for me. The white bull was smaller and I could grab his scruff and hold him. The brown one wou...

That's what I ran this morning. 4.5 miles out, then turned around and came back. It went better than last week's 8 mile. I didn't walk at all until the turn around. I finished at about 1 hour 50 minutes, which puts me at an average pace of 12 minutes per mile. I walked 3 times. It felt pretty good, but I really slowed down the last mile again. Next week is the 10 mile run on post. I'm going to go ahead and push for that. It's a Saturday run, so instead of my usual Wednesday and Friday runs I'm going to do Tuesday and Thursday. That way I have the day of rest before the long run. Then I think I will repeat the 10 mile week as a little reward. I also tried a Stinger Waffle before I ran. I think it made a big difference. I'm going to try their honey gels, too. J said their texture is more like honey (since that's about all it is) and not like the other energy gels. I tried a Gu gel at the Bataan and the texture of it completely grossed me out. ICK. T...

And not walking the dog this morning. I think I slept wrong on my neck. Woke up with a mild headache, but it's enough to bug me. And when the ticking of my watch gets on my nerves, it usually means I need to watch out for a migraine. So we aren't walking this morning. He does have a playdate this morning, though. I know I should walk him for exercise before the playdate, but I honestly don't want to leave my house yet. I will eat breakfast, drink some hot tea, and take a long shower. That usually helps the head rather well. Oh wait, brunchy foods at playdate. So I might eat a little something, but the tea is a definite. I'm glad it's finally Thursday. It's been a long, slow week. 

I was looking at my training schedule today, and the calendar. I somehow completely skipped a whole month when counting originally. Yeah, I will finish this training schedule one month before the half marathon. Ok, so I can work with this. It means I can repeat weeks easily when I get to the 10+ mile runs. It means I can run 13 miles a few times before the actual race. It means I have time to mess up. So yeah. I was getting nervous before, but not so nervous now. I have plenty of time. 

I biked and ran over the weekend. Saturday, J and I biked about 22 miles. Sunday, I ran 8 miles. The last mile seems to be my worst. At least with these new distances. I have to really focus on not walking, no matter how much I want to. I tell myself that it doesn't matter how slow I'm running, as long as I'm running. I still finished around where I wanted. My pace is averaging out to somewhere between an 11 and 12 minute mile. I even ran over a bridge, so I had some hill work in there. I'm going to try adding more hills to my routine. Most of my weekday runs from here out are 4 or 3 miles. I want to head over to McKelligan Canyon on some of those 4 mile days. The whole route is about 4 miles total, but it's all up and down. My coach/the hubs agrees this will help me out. Uphill helps build endurance, and downhill helps build speed. I'm not real worried about speed right now, but want help on endurance. Maybe if I can build endurance on my short runs (via ...

Ok, not really, but back home. I spent a week in Maryland for my BFF's wedding. It was fan-freaking-tastic! The greatest part was that Misty (the BFF), Alison (the third corner of our triangle) and I were together again. We haven't been together in, oh, 9 years? Something like that. Yeah. Long time. Together, we have the Catholic School Teacher, the ex-Mormon Whedon geek, and the Heathen. Yeah, that last one is me. We make quite the team. We balance each other out rather well. I also saw Misty's mom, sister, brother, and 5 nieces. Wow. The wedding was fun. A simple ceremony outside, then a relaxed, horror-movie themed reception inside. It was fun. We danced, we talked, we ate, we drank. Then we cleaned up, and Al and I crashed in my hotel room. I also kept up my training while out there. First was a 3 mile run on Friday. SUCK. It also happened to be the most humid day during my stay. I only ran maybe 2/3 of it. Since the wedding was Saturday night, I didn't ev...

I did have a good day yesterday. Had a decent run, got moving, got to the airport with plenty of time. As I was walking through the airport, I saw someone that looked familiar. He gave me the "I should know you" look as well. Then, from the recesses of my brain, I pulled out his name. Jeff. He went to high school with me. He was in the El Paso airport. We weren't friends, acquaintances though. Had some classes together. He was in EP for work, on his way back home. So that started it. Had some good flights, no worries. Then remembered that I forgot my camera. And my GPS. Ugh. I got to the car rental counter and was asking how much it would cost to rent a GPS for the week, when the guy threw it in for me. Yeah. I got the GPS for free. This is my first time renting with Hertz, and it's been great so far. I even got a hybrid car which will save me on the gas. Of course, after all that, I got to see Misty, Alison, and a bunch of Misty's family. I got so many ...

Specifically something about me. I've know my whole life that I'm in Introvert. My mother is also an introvert, so I was raised knowing that it is OK to be that way. Thanks Mom! I read a great article shared by a friend on Facebook, who found it through her friend and who knows where it started. It's about Introverts. They found some science to it. Basically my brain doesn't like dopamine. It also covers some of the "myths" about introverts. I highly recommend you check it out. Don't bother with #2 when it comes to me. I really am shy as well as introverted. I really am weird, too. I've never been comfortable around lots of people. I learned how to fake it. I still get anxious when I have to do anything in a large group of people. Even if it's family. I tend to hang on the outside of the crowd, where it's easy to escape. It's almost like being claustrophobic, but I only feel that way when surrounded by people. And semi trucks, but th...

Wow. I haven't posted in 10 days. Sorry about that. Got busy and the writing bug stayed far away. So I've pushed myself up a week in my half marathon training. This way I'm in line to run the post 10 miler next month. Doing good so far. Big test will be next weekend, in MD, when I have to run 7 miles. So, today. J and I took our bikes to the west side and rode up to a little coffee shop in Old Mesilla. Ended up being about 25 miles round trip. The last 5 miles were hell. Seriously, I died. I just couldn't peddle anymore. Holy Crap. Seriously. I also have this issue with my hands and right shoulder when I ride. I get this horrid pain in my shoulder, right up against my neck. It's sharp, stabbing type pains. Not fun. And my hands started going numb. Not very fun. Not sure what caused it. Hadn't really had the tingly hands problem before. Gotta try to figure that out. Not sure if I'm overextending, pinching something, or if I just need more upper body str...

The long weekend was great. I may have over ate a little and put on a pound or two, but I had a great time with J. We definitely needed that. Now it's back to work. For both of us. Ok, well only sort of for me. I bought backing material for my next quilt and hope to get started on that this week. Got my grocery shopping done in the afternoon (I prefer mornings) and survived. I have been slightly headache off and on this weekend, and I hope to fix that tonight. Tomorrow is my first run on my half marathon training. Fortunately it's a short one. I will keep taking Remy with me as long as I can. My weekday runs he should be fine with for a while still. The long runs are on Sundays. As my runs get longer, I'm going to try using J's water belt. It has 2 little water flasks. He would like a new one, so if I like this one I can keep it. If I don't, I'll get my own. I will definitely need one on those longer runs, though. J suggested I use it if I'm running fo...

I decided I need to get my butt moving on this half marathon training. I found a training program I like at about.com and altered it to fit my needs. It had race day on a Saturday, and my race is on a Sunday, so I bumped the days. Also realized I can start at week 2, so I added in another week. The longest distance it had me going was 12 miles, so I threw in another week going to 13 miles. Then 2 weeks to recover and taper before the race. My finished product is after the jump. I am considering Thursdays as either Cross Train (CT) or rest. I'll see how my body is feeling. Might be a great day for long walks with the dog. As I go on, I will do my best to make sure I'm not overdoing it, and I'm willing to turn cross train days into rest days.

Tattoo idea, version 3. The original flame and water drop, somewhere between japanese and realism, with the Hebrew for Fire and Water under the relative design. I have plenty of resources to make sure my Hebrew is correct, and I will make sure they use my exact copy. I WILL NOT have incorrect Hebrew tattooed on me. I will bring it in and have them copy it to the correct size and use exactly that. Hebrew reads left to right, not right to left like English. I found a funny blog, all about Bad Hebrew Tattoos . They also posted a GIF of the correct Hebrew spelling of the 4 elements. I will even run these past a reliable personal source before using them in my tattoo. (That means you, Zach!) Eventually I may incorporate earth and wind into my back piece, but fire and water have always been my favorite elements. I want fire on the left shoulder blade and water on the right. Don't know why I want those sides, just always have. That has never been an issue in this tattoo design. ...