For those of you that are just now finding our blog and don't know what on earth we're talking about, feel free to go back to our first post on September 13th to read the outline for our challenge.
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Maria Week 38 - Oh, my achin' back!

If Jj, JBS, and Jim ;-) are actually following this blog and pay REALLY close attention to when this posts they'll see that I am a VERY bad girl. And if they don't follow this blog- then poo on you! :-D

Thanks to Janis for the confidence in my ability to potentially compete in Wipe Out. But I have to admit that for the past few weeks I've felt a bit like an old lady and just don't think I could do much of anything. HOWEVER! If I am the old lady that my mother is - WATCH OUT! That's one tough chick! I know my mom doesn't read blogs, but I gotta give her a big ol' shout out. Scared the $#!& out of us all when she took a little tumble down the front porch stairs this last Sunday and landed on the cement pad at the bottom right on her face/head. Cut up her lip, cut across her nose, two black eyes, and a huge gash across the top of her head, but nothing broken. Thank the heavens above. I hope I'm as tough as she is. But lately I don't feel like it.

My back has been bothering me a bit lately. Just a slight uncomfortable twinge, but it has been getting increasingly worse and worse. I am going to the chiropractor today. YAY! Hoping the alignment will get me all straightened out. (hehe)

Ran yesterday. I have serious issues there. If I take it slow like my PT says to then I feel lazy. So I get impatient and I run a little further than I know I should and I hurt myself. Add to my achin' back a sore knee and I am hobbling around like an old lady. Goodness!

New deal for me. I am going to tailor my workout and rewards to my PT workouts and stretches. I think that might be the only way to get myself and keep myself on track.

I also think this is a great learning experience for me. One day when I am working with people like me - impatient athletes who want to heal immediately and get back on the field/track/court - I can just slap them upside the head and tell them to knock it off.

Depositing $5

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Maria Week 36 - Pushed Too Hard

It's been tough doing what my physical therapist wants me to do. Here I am considering a career choice telling people how to get, be, stay healthy - telling people what exercises, stretches, etc to do - and I seem to be struggling to follow my own physical therapists advice. I guess one day I can truly be empathetic to my own clients/patients when they don't want to do what I tell them, right?

I am supposed to be slowly building back up to running. On Saturday I had had enough. I was determined to just see how far I could push it and ... well ... I'm afraid I may have pushed too hard. I ran, not until I hurt, I'm not THAT stupid! But I ran until my knee felt tight. I felt great for like an hour or so after the run. Went up and down stairs, walked all around - no issues! Then suddenly I went to go downstairs again and OMG! Agony! Needless to say, I was pretty bummed the rest of the day. I thought I had really screwed up my knee. Could see my dreams of being a runner drifting away.

So maybe I was a bit being a bit over dramatic. By Sunday my knee was much better and by Monday, practically good as new.

So back to my physical therapists orders - taking it slow again.
Sorry Rach - no 5K for me in June. Maybe July.

Depositing $7

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Maria Week 35 - Ute

Rachel will be happy to know that I am a now a fellow Ute. Yes, it's true. I attended my first class yesterday. Oddly enough, I don't feel like I am betraying my Cougar loyalty by becoming a Ute. In fact, I have BYU Football season tickets and I think I could potentially cheer for both teams if necessary. (This is much easier said than done.) I save my real support, my real loyalty, and thousands and thousands of dollars for the school that grants me acceptance for graduate school so my true colors won't show for a few more years.


Well, that being said, this is about improving ourselves, right? And not just our physical appearances, right? I've worked pretty hard on and off, mostly on, with improving my physical appearance and now I get to work really hard with improving my mind. I'm very excited. We all know I'd be a professional student if that were possible. Anyone know if that's possible? I'll do it. Sign me up! I'm still not 100% sure what my undergrad major is going to be so I'm really on the right track to being a professional student. I mean, if I make a switch - it will be my 6th or 7th major since starting college ..... we won't get into exactly HOW many years ago that was. I have so many huge decisions to make and I feel such urgency to make them right now. I feel like I am standing on the edge of this enormous precipice! It's all exciting, nonetheless.

Well, workouts have not begun to suffer, yet. Depositing $10.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Maria Week 32

No creative title for this week - Just the facts.
Starting to lose weight again. Starting to the lose the weight that I put back on. Yay!
Haven't measured, but I'm quite certain I'm starting to lose the inches that I am sure I gained (because I didn't measure then either).
Also starting to see that definition in my abs that I had in January finally creeping back in. Might need to borrow another cell phone with a built in camera and sneak into the VS dressing rooms again! ;-)
Lots of time in the gym and lots of PT exercises (which include lots of core exercises - I'm liking that!)

Depositing $10

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Maria Week 31 - MOTIVATION

It's definitely a motivational issue for me. But I don't lack the motivation to get to the gym - I lack the motivation to post. (I suffer from this on both blogs as anyone who attempts to follow me can see.) As I mentioned, I had one day two weeks ago where I burned more than 2000 calories .... So you can see - most days getting to the gym is no issue, but logging into blogger does seem to be. :-(
I have been given the green light by my Physical Therapist to ease myself back into running. It's the "ease" part that is difficult. Every time I want to disobey my Physical Therapist and push it a little I just try to remember what the day after Moab felt like. I try to remember how hard I cried every time I tried to move my knees.

Depositing $10 for workouts and fruits ... as soon as I'm employed and have money to deposit ;-)

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Maria Week 30 - I JUST MIGHT BE A RUNNER

I went to the PT this week and I am so excited to report that I am a runner! So the answer to my previous quandary is YES!
I was assigned to the running team at TOSH, because, well ... I'm a runner. My PT is a runner, his PT assistant is a runner, and his other assistant (who I didn't have the pleasure of meeting at this visit) is also a runner. They did all sorts of really cool evaluations and measurements on my joints, watched me run, stretched me out and determined that I am, in fact, a runner. They also told me that for someone who has been only running for like 5 months, I sure do look like a runner. It has also been determined that I have done no major damage to my knee (or hip for that matter), that there is nothing seriously wrong with me knee or hip, and that there is no reason I should have any problems running in the future.
I was given a series of stretches designed to try and alleviate my sciatica issues as well some good sound stretches any runner should use. And then I was given some exercises designed to help strengthen my hip muscles to assist with protecting my knees.
Ok ... so as for the other Butterfly Girls stuff. I am back to the gym with a vengeance. Now that my knee is feeling better and I am well rested and recovered I am hitting it and hitting it hard. I burned 2003 calories last Monday - with no job I can afford to spend 5 hours at the gym and it's a beautiful thing! I am back to resistance training, back to boot camp, back to cycling. I am loving it. Hmmmm....wonder if I can find a job that will just pay me to work out. Now that would be COOL!

Depositing ... Max $10.

Mj - I am STOKED for the Timp Cave hike!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Maria Week 28 - Not Much to Say

Well, I took all of last week off for recovery, but I still don't feel completely recovered. That's a very frustrating feeling. It was hard enough taking one week off - I am not about to take two.
So I returned to the gym this week. I am taking it easy. Will hold off on the two-a-days for a while. Will hold off on the long runs for a while. Might even hold off on running altogether for a while. (Much to my dismay). But it is more important for me to heal properly than to turn what I am hoping is a minor and temporary injury into a permanent injury.

Interesting to note .... when I am not working out I have a harder time drinking as much water and eating healthier foods. Funny how those two things seem to go hand in hand.

Depositing a measly $4 for workouts and fruits and veggies. What a sad week for me.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Maria Week 26 - Can I sympathize with Mj?

I'm in the final home stretch of my training....for THIS half marathon anyway. I hope that there will be many more to come and if all goes well, perhaps even a full marathon someday. I don't want to make a habit of running full marathons, but one or two might be nice. IF I can stand to continue running.

I want to thank Brady for his words of encouragement regarding my running issue. You have given me hope. I am determined to become a runner. That was a very daunting thought in the beginning, but now I believe that I can learn to love it. Thank you for that.

On Saturday I ran 10 miles - my longest distance yet (and a milestone). I started off the run with some minor pain in my hip and knees. Knee pain and often shin splints at the beginning of a run are very typical with me and if I can tough it out for about 30 - 45 minutes the pain usually goes away. Saturday, the pain in my hip slowly increased. By mile 7 it was approaching unbearable. By mile 8 I was choking back the tears. By mile 9 I considered, for the first time, walking - at least for a short distance. And it occurred to me - I've been in this same stride for so long that I'm not really sure how to walk at this point. But after a few minutes of serious thought I figured out how to walk again. The pain was unbearable! I probably only managed to walk about 15 feet when I had to start running again. It was much more painful to walk than to run. (Go figure!) So I kicked it back into gear. I cried the last mile. And by the time I finished I was in so much pain I wanted to collapse and just sob. (I nearly did). I don't know what it's like to live with that pain everyday, but Mj, for one day, maybe I could sympathize just a little. You are a real trooper.

I do at least one hour of cardio everyday but one. And on one day I did nearly 2.5 hours (Saturday). I am also pretty good about eating fruits (although not so good with the veggies). So I'll be depositing $12. My max amount plus one milestone.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Maria Week 25

Jj - I'm with ya! I was just thinking yesterday afternoon that it was Thursday already and no one had posted. Of course, that didn't get me moving either. I've been preoccupied - sorry.
So....shout out to my BG's who are awesome and bought me a beautiful necklace with a 4-leaf clover for luck in my upcoming half marathon.
Haven't really done much with regards to workouts aside from my running and then doing some light cardio or weights on my "rest" days.

Depositing $10 for workouts, fruits and veggies.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Maria Week 24 - To be or not to be....That is the question

What does it take to be a "runner"? Do I qualify. I run 3-4 days a week. And I have now run as far as 8 miles in one run. I am signed up for and training for a half marathon. But does that make me a runner? I sure don't feel like a runner. And while I plan (at this time) to continue to participate in races and half-marathons; I plan to continue to run 3-4 times a week; I gotta be honest with you all ..... I don't think I enjoy running. And that sort of bums me out. Because I want to like it. Hopefully my problem is that my running at this time is primarily on a treadmill. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that THAT is my real issue here; that once I get outside with the sunshine on my face and shoulders and a breeze in my hair - I'll catch the running bug and be addicted!

Ran 8 miles last Saturday - new milestone!

I want to take just a minute to revisit a monster from my past. By the time I had graduated high school I had never successfully run more than about a mile and a half without stopping to walk a while. By the time I was 31 I had never run more than about 2 miles without stopping to rest or to walk a while. I have now run 7 miles without stopping at all. (I took a much needed potty break with my recent 8 mile run - hehe). I think I'll pat myself on the back today. And when I finish that half marathon in a little over 2 weeks - I think I might reward myself. Not sure what my reward will be yet. But I believe I will have earned SOMETHING!

Depositing $12. Max $10 for workouts and fruits and veggies and $2 for the 8 mile milestone.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Maria Week 23 - Totally Bummed!

So the totally cute guy checking me out at the gym is totally not checking me out afterall. I am so bummed!

That's twice now I've been disappointed at the gym. The first time was when some guys started whistling at me and I turned around to discover they are my brother-in-laws buddies. Not that THAT alone makes it disappointing - but clearly they weren't whistling at me cuz they think I'm hot.

Oh, well.....I still have Kyle Whittingham.

Anyway .... depositing max $10 for workouts and fruits and veggies.
Narrowly missed a milestone as I mentioned in my Jordan River Parkway post. Bummed about that too. Darn it!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Jordan River Parkway

Nearly a year ago - I took a walk along the Jordan River Parkway. I started at 12300 South and walked as far as I could stand. I felt like I had walked forever and there was no end to the Parkway. It made me very curious. It had to end eventually and I wanted to know where. But it was clearly too far for me to ever able to find unless I was on a bike. Well....that was last year. This year - I am strong enough to find the end of the Parkway. And it wasn't walking it - it was running it!!!!!!

Only....the thing is....I didn't really find it. I ran into a residential area and thought that was the end. Called it quits, turned around, and ran all the way back to the beginning.

I got onto www.mapmyrun.com to map out how far I had run - the goal was 7 miles. And the beautiful satellite photos of the parkway and my running trail showed me that 1- it was NOT the end of the parkway at all! It continued on after the residential area. And 2 - I had only run about 6.7 miles! DANG IT!

So I missed a milestone this week. Next week is my scheduled 8 mile run so - I should hit that milestone and just bypass the 7 mile one altogether. Oh, well! Whatcha gonna do?

But I am very proud of myself because that was my first time running on the road and not on a treadmill. Holy crap - you use completely different muscles on the road vs a treadmill and I was SORE! It helped build my confidence and that is a good thing. Moab doesn't look quite so scary anymore.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly on the Plane

But whenever I go on a trip, it stays where ever I am. Maybe I should take a plane to Spain and see what happens. hhmmm . . . Seriously?!? Why is it that EVERYTIME I go on a trip I get rained out? Don't get me wrong, I still had a good time but it made for a very cold weekend.

Sadly, because of the pouring and I really mean POURING (I'm using a lot of caps but that seems to be the only way to get my point across, but I'm open to suggestions) on Saturday. Well, really it was raining just about every day but we'll get to that later. So our hashing even was canceled. Actually, Aeon (Jana's BF) still went but we decided to go shopping instead. Much more useful in my opinion.

We went rock climbing on Sunday (don't judge - I was communing with nature). But it was so freezing cold that I only made it about 3/4 the way up the mountain before I had to come down because my hands were frozen and I couldn't grip the rock anymore. I think I was only about 5 feet from the sunshine and warm rock but I just couldn't handle it anymore. So I went hiking with some other people in our group to warm up instead. So either way, I got in some good exercise. I've got pictures but I haven't transferred them to my computer so I've attached some random photos from First Friday instead. I'll get you rock climbing pictures for next weeks post. (Ignore the guy trying to lick my cheek. That's Jana's BF.)




Unfortunately, the diet journal went out the window. I tried to keep track of some stuff on my iPod but when you're staying with someone else and random people are cooking you dinner you can't really go asking for the recipe so you can calculate the calories and digging for a measuring cup to make sure you only get one serving. Well, I guess you could but if you ever want to be invited back, I would advise otherwise.

Luckily, Jana and Aeon and friends are all pretty healthy eaters. I'm sure I probably went over on carbs more than once, but I think I did pretty good on calories. No milestones to report, but I didn't gain anything either. Maybe I should make that a milestone. I seem to be good at that one. And I know this isn't a milestone, but I'm excited about it so I'm going to report it anyway . . . I've gone down at least a full pant size. Before I was wearing a 10-12 but now I'm a pretty solid 8. I could stand to lose another 3 lbs to make them fit PERFECTLY and that will happen but I needed new jeans because the old ones kept falling off so I decided to just go with it. Whoohoo! Anyway, depositing the max of $10 this week.

And since I've got nothing but time on my hands for a while, I'm going to try to spend a lot more time in the gym for the next few weeks. If I don't find something to entertain me I may just totally lose my mind.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Maria Week 20

Gosh....can't think of anything exciting to say. Nothing really out of the ordinary happened this week. Nothing noteworthy or praiseworthy.
I will report, so that I actually have something to say, that I am now the points leader in the Sanders health and fitness challenge. Just need to hang on to that. If you want to check it out .... http://sanderslosers.blogspot.com/
I haven't ran another long distance since my crazy work week and then my injured toes and I'm scared to death to try that again and find that I am horribly out of shape :-( Oh, my toes are all healed - that's something, I guess.
Going to try and log my food again - I think I may have gotten a bit off track so I added a new goal with regards to that.

Well, depositing the max $10 for workouts and fruits and veggies.

Thanks ladies for all your love and support! And thanks to any and all of our followers!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Maria Week 19

This was a rough week for me at work. Busy, busy, busy. But I LOVE IT! This was the week of our quarterly sales meetings and I got to hang out with all of my remote sales guys. Keeps me busy, but I am NOT complaining. It did, however, impact my workouts a bit. Don't get me wrong - I'm a freaking die hard! I still got in at least an hour everyday. And I found the time to take a few measurements.
I lost an inch around my ribs, an inch in my waist, half an inch in my hips. Fortunately nothing in my butt, but unfortunately, half an inch in my chest :-(
So...that's a milestone for my waist!
I took a bootcamp class on Monday. WOW! What a workout! Unfortunately I wasn't wearing the right shoes for the class and I now have two huge ruptured blisters - one on the bottom of each foot. Looks like I'll be taking it easy for a day or two :-(


RIGHT FOOT


LEFT FOOT

Depositing $10.50

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Maria Week 18

I was thinking back about the week and felt like I hadn't been strong...but as I actually looked through my calendar I realized that it's really only been the last few days. I started off really strong. But Saturday my usual instructor wasn't there so I followed a different routine. Not as much strength and it threw me off. Then Monday and Tuesday evenings I had work meetings/dinners so I didn't get to do my two-a-days and missed my abs class so that has made me feel even more off. But prior to Saturday I was strong and so will finish this week out great anyway!
I am going to get to deposit the max for workouts and eating my fruits and veggies. Also, I not only hit, but surpassed my next milestone weight this morning! 116.6 That's puts me 1.6 lbs from my goal and 1.6 lbs away from my next milestone weight!
So depositing $12 for max workouts and a milestone

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Maria Week 17

I have been trying to post - or at least start a post since Tuesday. Argh! So here it is ......
I love going to the gym. I get so motivated and inspired there. I am a serious regular and am starting to learn the names of and get to know the other regulars much better. I have my classmates from cycling and my other morning classes. They're a pretty tight group and I was accepted into their group some time ago. But I'm starting to get accepted into the night classes group now and that's an even harder group to get into because there aren't as many loyal groupies there. But the regulars I refered to above are the people who don't attend classes - the hardest group of all to get into because they really can't be defined as a "group" ... just a bunch of individuals working out alone together.
The other reason I love going to the gym .... people are starting to notice a difference in me. How can I not want to keep going when someone tells me that I'm starting to get "cut". Or that they have noticed a huge difference in me in just the past few months. Also had a lady comment on how strong I was - said that she was watching me in Powerflex and couldn't believe that I could lift that much. I told her to hang in there because 10 months ago I was ready to cry if I got to class and the 3 and 5 lb weights were all gone and I had to use the 8 and 10 pounders.
I hit approximately 6 miles running on Sunday. Nothing but sheer will power and determination. I know now that the first 3 miles are the hardest and if I can just get past them then I get into my stride and do ok for a while. But after 3.5 miles it wasn't getting any easier. At 4.5 it still wasn't easier. At 5.5 it was hard as #&!! but I kept going - determined to hit a new personal best - if only by .25 miles! And I did it. (Can't say I could repeat it any time soon, but I did it!)
Changing my milestones a bit - want to tailor them more towards my running goals so check them out please!
Also, will be contributing the max - $10

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Maria Week 16

I was feeling pretty down thinking that my 4.5 miles from December 20 was just a fluke or a miscalculation on my part because I was really struggling to get there again. Well, I've done 4.5 miles twice now! So ... nope, no miscalulation. YAY! Hey, maybe I can do this half marathon after all! 73 days from today. Yikes!
I'm also thinking of signing up for another one in April. Perhaps this will be my new thing. I'll be a half-marathoner.
Oh, and I have two new running partners - I'm stoked about that. One of them is my favorite instructor as mentioned in Week 15's post. She recently ran a marathon so I expect her to have lots of insight and information for me. Also, my Aunt Pam is training and has sent me a lot of great information from her trainer.
Geez .... NEVER in a million years did I think I'd be a runner. Guess I shouldn't get ahead of myself - not really a runner yet. Just a bit of a jogger training to do some running soon.
Good week, I think. No significant weight loss - darn holidays! Darn plateau! But got a new phone - it's awesome! No information lost - yet. And worked out pretty hard this week. Seeing some nice definition in my shoulders and thighs and even a tiny bit in my abs if the lighting is just PERFECT! (Perfect = bad...hehe)
Oh! And I tried on new jeans - the exact same brand and style that I've been wearing in a size smaller and they fit! Actually, I tried on two sizes smaller and could probably get away with them as well!

Depositing ... Max $10

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Maria Week 14

Work outs are never an issue for me. Because 1. I'm addicted; 2. I have this big scary race looming in the near future that I have to train for or I'll die; and 3. my friends at the gym are like family - I miss them if I don't go.

Food - that's my issue.

My little sister recently found out she's allergic to corn - she can't eat anything! Poor girl. Nearly everything has high fructose corn syrup or some other corn by-product in it.

I have been sick all week. :-( This is becoming the story of my life. I have been avoiding it, putting it off, whatever - but I have GOT to figure out what is setting me off like this. I am hoping it's not some sort of food allergy - no fun!

OH! Nearly forgot! I ran 4.5 miles straight on Saturday! That's a record for me! And then on Tuesday I ran another 3 miles straight. So, that's technically 2 5K's and that's 2 milestones.

Depositing $14

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Canyonlands Half Marathon

I made it! My registration to the Canyonlands Half Marathon was accepted! I won the lottery! Hehe. That's what the email that I got called it - a lottery. And I got accepted - that's kind of like winning right? Or losing? This is so daunting and scary! OMG! What have I gotten myself into? As of today (December 16) I only have 95 days to prepare. Yikes! But 95 is a good number - I should be ok. Right?