Excuses

I make sooo many excuses. All the time. Just to workout or eat healthy even though I know it's my fault and I should just do it. The only thing that keeps me motivated, is the imminent PRT every 6 months, summer/bikini season every year, and a running plan. 

Yesterday my excuse not to do anything had to do with the beginnings of a cold (sore throat, sneezing), and mother nature.

Thank goodness I didn't have to work this weekend, but tomorrow's going to be rough for sure. I just hope it's a "nice" day. I don't dare say the "Q" word. 

So I took a rest day. I figured 4 days in a row was good and deserved a break. My poor husband got to hear me nag about cleaning and it also gave me plenty of time to eat. i just don't understand how hormones have any business being this damn controlling!

It's maddening I tell you. But a lot of yesterday carried on into today...

No Jen it's not. Amen sista!

Me neither Ethel, if only you could put it on your resume!

I'm not going to lie, it felt good and my hormones thanked me. But I made sure I set an alarm and went for a run at 2 in the afternoon after sitting on my butt since waking up. It's been so rainy and gloomy lately that the beautiful weather was another reason (*coughexcusecough*) that I decided to push my run to today. 

It was beautiful! And I didn't want to die at the end. Success! I gave myself a mental high five that I had actually done it, because lord knows I had some more back up excuses not to. Having on leggings, a t-shirt, and a jacket while having the sun beat on me was too much, but it was also nice to be a little sweatier since the wind and cold have kept me pretty cool. There were so many other people out running too that it was fun to wave and be like. 

My pace was a whole minute faster than my 6 mile run the other day which felt great. I'm going to give credit to the speed workout I did the other day.

Afterwards, I washed up and we took the pugs to the dog park. It's our oldest pug's birthday today, he's 4 years old!!

Galway is such a sweet dog. It cracked me up a little that his dog to human years ratio puts him at 32 years old. He definitely has the attitude of an older gentleman, but that's why I love him. Our other pug Penny however, still acts like a puppy at a year and a half, and that's okay/to be expected.

She's almost cat-like sometimes. Such a weirdo. 

The dog park is always an interesting place, you never know how the dogs are all going to act around each other, or us for that matter. Ben and I can be quite awkward because honestly, do you talk or not talk? What the heck do you talk about? Is Ben really running around the park chasing all the dogs? And how much do people hate my mildly annoying voice I use for talking to the pugs?

Oh well, they had fun and that's all that matters. They're definitely wiped out now for the night!

And now it's time for bed, work tomorrow, but no excuses.. I WILL be doing my Kinect Nike workout when I get home! Right?!

Happy March

Happy March. Holy cow where did Jan and Feb go?!

I've been "on leave" having a staycation at home. Ben and I were supposed to take a trip to London or Ireland, but plans kept falling through. And then we planned a trip to some cities in Italy, but I was already in a not so good mood, so those plans fell through too... So we've been staying and relaxing at home. 

The silver lining has been the opportunity to continue working out. Because we all know I wouldn't have done any running/working out if we had been anywhere else!

After my 6 miler the other day, I knew I would need to do another run yesterday. Since I've been soo upset about my slowness, I decided that the run would need to be a speed workout. So googling I went. I was terrified by the speeds I would need to complete. There's  a great pinterest board I found and started following, hopefully I can do some of these when I get faster. They were truly terrifying to contemplate doing.

That was my reaction to having to actually do one of them...

These were my favorite workouts that I saved to my computer, I thought they were the most doable for me and where I'm at now. 

(sources 1, 2, 3, 4)

I did the first one on the top left. It felt pretty good and I was surprised, since my 6 miler was mind numbingly slow. During the last mile, the fast walking was killing me, so I had to run the last lap because my feet couldn't take it anymore. Overall, not a bad time. 

I'm scare to do the tabata workout. I may have to do the sprints a little slower than 10 because I'm fairly certain I would fly off the treadmill. 

Today I did another one of my Nike Training Center workouts. Those mountain climbers and burpees are the worst part of my day... 

But then Ben grilled some 98% fat free turkey hot dogs for dinner. Don't worry, I had melted muenster cheese on bread to put it on. Delicioso. This is our go to meal!

In other news. I better start getting serious about my sit ups and push ups since the PRT is only a month away. Crap.

Aaannnd I'm back..

So I definitely took a week off of running/working out. I'm not going to lie, it was nice. I sat mostly on my butt and ate and watched episodes on Hulu. For no reason at all. Typically this is the fight that goes on in my head on a daily basis...

I tend to use work as an excuse not to work out, but this was a whole nother level of laziness. Definitely not in my training plan to hang out for 7 days. But I finally got back to it and went for my longest run yet. 6 miles! eek.

I was so proud when I was done. I didn't feel miserable and my hips weren't too tight. It even rained a little and got dark during the last half, but I still felt pretty good. I guess it also helps that I ran probably as fast as a turtle might, but I'm just glad I had the mental capacity to complete a run that took a little over an hour! This is how I got comforted/congratulated by my pugs.

 They truly are comforting! and here's proof that I really didn't die or feel awful.

I know iPhone cameras are awesome right! oh well I was happy even though I looked kinda gross. PS I love my sweatyband!

This is what I rewarded myself with :)

Tastes sooo good. 

Today we were supposed to go out of town to Florence and Venice for a couple days, but things weren't working out. There's so much I need to do and procrastinate doing. It's okay though they aren't going anymore and the weather's been pretty crappy lately anyways. So I got in a 40 minute crosstraining workout on the bike today. Why is that always easier than running?! 

I'm also happy that I don't have to leave these adorable faces :)

And I Die

I'm doing the Hal Higdon Half Marathon training plan for Novices. Monday's supposed to be stretch and strengthen and I was more than willing to let that day be a "rest" day instead since I had to work. I was busy enough, not sitting toooo much like I can sometimes so I felt justified. Plus my feet have been hurting a lot lately. Mostly the joints of both of my big toes have been achey. The only shoes that don't make it hurt when I walk are my nursing shoes.

So after work on Tuesday I did what I always seem to find an excuse out of, I went for a run. But only because that's what the plan told me to do, and I don't need to get behind in my training, especially since I already feel like crap about how slow I'm going. Walking around the ward for 12 hours is no joke, and I think a lot of the times it's mentally taxing to work out afterwards. Granted I probably could have gone during work. I just don't like to leave my patient's (even if my co-worker is more than capable of watching her for the hour that I need)

(source)

This is all the running I need to do right?!

So I did it. And it sucked. I came home and literally almost passed out after walking up the stairs and then sitting on a chair in my living room. I had to open the door and let the cold air hit me to help me out. I hate that feeling. It's funny you wonder why people would rather be lazy and sit around. When you do something bad for yourself like not work out, the consequences are quiet or slow. When you do something good for yourself like actually work out or eat healthily, you notice the effect immediately. And if you're like me they are not pleasant! 

After that feeling passed I went ahead and passed out for the night. It took me all day today to motivate myself to go again, but at least I didn't feel like passing out and dying after. It was still a crap run though so I'm not looking forward to the 5 miles I have to do tomorrow. Shuffling the training plan to work for me is easier said than done. But I know for a fact that I will NOT want to run the 5 miles on Sunday during or after work. Ah the joys of working all weekend. 36 hours of work in 3 days is probably the least motivating factor for working out.

FTL. For the Lose

After my humiliating, mind blowing, life changing realization about how much I suck on Friday, I wasn't sure I'd ever run again. So my scheduled day of crosstraining on Saturday was more than welcomed. Because I prefer the elliptical over running, I'm probably doing that wrong too! Either way, it was awesome to do something different.

But then I had to go back to running today. We had to do 3.5 miles and a little strength training afterwards. It was not a pretty run. I was severely demotivated and didn't want to do it the entire time. I told Leah I might not be able to run with her because it was so demotivating. Hopefully my mood changes and motivation increases!

I swear this training plan is probably going to kill me. I'm used to working out (running) 3 days a week.  Now I'm working out 6 out of 7 days/week, which can't be bad for me but still! I miss my couch and carbs. But I'm also hoping doing all the workouts suggested will help me get faster. Praying might be more accurate.

For strength training, I have to rely on someone to tell me what to do. Even though I'm mad at the Nike running app, they do have a training center app that I absolutely loved. Which led me to purchasing their Kinect game!

So far I love it! They make you do a little test before compiling a program to follow. You have to make sure you're always lined up well with the Kinect sensor so that all your moves are getting picked up correctly. Having perfect form and being told you don't is highly irritating. I may have yelled at my virtual trainer a few times using some colorful language... This is what you're screen looks like when you're doing the workout. It can really kick your butt!

I probably need to get some more variety in my life. I want to pick up a good yoga DVD and maybe even a Jillian Michaels DVD to scare me into doing some other strength training workouts. I'm just completely useless when it comes to figuring out a routine on my own. Thank goodness there are other people out there who will do it for me! Ah the joys of living overseas and not having a trendy gym or fitness center offering the latest and greatest. Rumor is there was a group of people who got together and taught some Crossfit. I would love to check it out if they ever started meeting again so I'm keeping an eye out. 

Oh and I got the hubs to start working out more too! Hoorayy. Bring it on bikini season. 

Running. I'm doing it wrong.

Sooo I've been running with the Nike+ Running app since the beginning of last August. I love it! I have shown improvement in my time and distance and have not dropped my phone once (a miracle all in itself)! So I trust it. I even ran my PRT (Navy physical fitness test) and received basically the same result that the test coordinators did and that solidified my trust in the app.

All was honky dory until today. My friend Leah and I did our first co-"long run" of our training program for the half marathon. 5 miles is the farthest I've ever run! It was intimidating and I was not excited. Unfortunately, right from the get go our tracking devices were off. She wore a Garmin watch and I did my usual iPhone app. Altogether, our entire run was off by an entire MILE! That's a long way when you're training and relying on a device for a long period of time.

I'm just disappointed. I already knew I was slow. But damn I didn't know I was THAT slow. I'm panicking. I guess I'm just hoping that i can finish this stupid half in April under 3 hours before the sweepers/cleaners come to scoop me up in the mess. Because that's what I will be. This fact has plagued me for 99% of the rest of the day.

I required some of this while I coped with the realization that all my running for the past 6 months is null and void

And then later on that night, I required some of this...

and maybe a glass of this...

Okay maybe I had two. I'm such a freaking light weight that two of those cause me some loopy and tipsyness. This is why I don't drink very often...

The above 2 glasses of wine helped me to buy ohhhh ummm 4 new books on Amazon on how not to suck so much at running. Hopefully it helps. 

Fondue

I had that wonderful bowl of fondue with bread for dipping. and boiled potatoes. And that wasn't the only night, we had almost the exact same thing again the next night at a different restaurant! This was in Geneva, Switzerland. Apparently that's what they're known for and we took full advantage. It's not like the chain "The Melting Pot" that you've seen in the states where you get healthy stuff like vegetables or an apple along with the bread. Delicious!

These aren't such great meals to have when you're supposed to be on the second week of training for a half marathon. I swear we came back from that and I was 10lbs heavier. Worth it.

But now I'm back on track with training. Did all three of my runs so far this week and I'm still dreading my "long run" this Friday. 5 miles will be the farthest I've ever run.My friend Leah and I are running a half marathon in April and my favorite length to run is 3. So yeah. We'll see how it goes.