i.dle vs i.de.al

B4B

2011-10-30T15:03:00.000-07:00

I'm playing hookie today from work......sometimes you just need what I like to call and "mental health day". I was so tired yesterday and then didn't get any sleep last night.

This past week was pretty fun at our box. They are celebrating the one year anniversary of opening and so all week we had team competition between the various class times. It all came down to Fridays WOD which also just happened to be Grace. Anyways the prescribed weight for females in this WOD is 95lbs!!!! Our high and what I had to do was 30 clean and jerks at 75lbs for time. Previous to Friday I had only done 65lbs on clean and jerks as it is a pretty new lift for me. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't fast but I rocked Grace out in 7:01 to help our team win the highest load point......btw we also had some pretty fast girls with some lower weights and we won the point for fastest overall times as well!

As a treat I made cookies!

AMAZING!!!!! I love my new cookbook.

I also spent another afternoon on the lake! I so want a paddleboard!

SUPr weekend!

2011-10-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

I love having four days off!

Friday I found my new hobby Stand Up Paddling, now if I can just scrounge up the money for a board!

Canyon Lake, a beautiful 94 degrees on this October day!

A lot has gone on since June. For now what I will say is that mid July until about beginning of September I fell off my paleo/primal wagon reverted back to my SAD diet and stopped going to crossfit for a good month or so resulting in looking and feeling horrible!

Since September I have been going back to the box at least 2x week trying to make it 3 and have been adding in some running, hiking, and walking.

I have once again cleaned up my diet forgoing grain, legumes, and dairy. In the past month I have cheated maybe twice and overall feel better. I am still fighting the sugars (honey, agave in my coffee, condiments, and those pesky hidden ones like in a can of diced tomatoes). Since I have started really looking at food labels I am shocked to see how many things have added sugar (chicken broth?!). I am about ready to completely give up on grocery stores and stick with Whole ~~Paycheck~~ Foods and farmers markets even for my occasional canned goods. I am currently reading this, this, and I'm anxiously awaiting my copy of this.

"Filthy fift.....er 25"

2011-06-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday for breakfast I attempted some almond meal/flour pancakes. As you can see my first few were an epic fail!

I did get two that actually resembled a pancake. My first bite I was unsure then I kind of started liking the taste. Much different texture and taste than a regular pancake, but not bad. I will have to tweak the recipe a bit and continue to review some recipes online to find what works best!

On to the good stuff!

Today at crossfit we started a four week challenge. Our WOD was....

The Filthy Fifty

For time:
50 Box jumps (16 inch box),
50 Jumping pull-ups,
50 Kettlebell swings (8kg bell),
Walking Lunge 50 steps,
50 Knees to elbows,
50 Push press (35 pounds),
50 Back extensions,
50 medicine balll squat/throw
50 Burpees,
50 Double unders (150 regular jumps)

Now because I am still a new girl we did 1/2 so 25 of all of the above except the full 150 jumps with jumprope (the weights and notes in parenthesis are strictly what I was at being new). The burpees about killed me, ughhh! I suck at jumping rope and can't do a double under.....YET! My time was 18:06. In four weeks we will repeat the same workout and see how well we improve our time. There are some really awesome chicks that someday I hope to grow up and be like. One lady finished the full fifty just a few minutes after I finished my 1/2, LOL! AWESOME!!!

MMMMahi Mahi

2011-06-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

A lonely girls dinner and because my other half doesn't like fish I ate mahi mahi; twice this week actually!

This bowl turned out to be very tasty. My paleo version of a mahi mahi taco.

Shredded cabbage with juice from one lime
Mahi Mahi
Mango cranberry salsa that I picked up from Whole Foods
Avocado

Simple, light, and easy to put together! I forget how filling fish is. I thought I would need a fruit or something after this dish but I didn't! Two nights of fish though have me craving some red meat today.

I have to confess, I slept in today (til 7am) either way I made a conscious decision when my alarm went off not to go to crossfit today. I'll find something fun to do to get my workout on and loosen up, my abs are killing me.

Whey...t, I'm so confused.

2011-06-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

In my effort to try new things paleo/primal I went shopping. Then I came home and read an article on why whey protein is not really paleo, hmmmph. Oh well, again I am not a purist and truly I imagine this bag will last me a while since I only occasionally make post workout shakes.

Also while at Whole Foods I got a cup of this kale salad to try. Pretty good! Kale, tomato, sea salt, pepper, olive oil, dried cranberries, pine nuts....
May have to try a similar salad at home maybe with some walnuts in place of the pine nuts or almonds. Surprisingly, I liked the tomato, dried cranberry combo!

Todays crossfit revelation, "you mean you want me to turn my hips out and not point my toes directly forward while I squat???" = hello hamstrings! I am a newbie at crossfit and therefore I am not allowed to squat without a box which is good since I am relearning how to squat and it burns! Tip of the day to remember: Curl your toes up as you squat down that way you put the weight into your heels and can't lean the upper body forward. Positive for the day: I held my plank for the full 3 minutes without dropping once = laughing now off limits for the next few days due to how sore my abs are going to be.

Finally a TTC side note: I went to the doctor today for a plan update come next cycle and to get some lab results. I am happy and yet frustrated by my results. I got "excellent" and "above average" on my ovarian assessment report. So my 35 years of waiting are proving not to be the issue.....which makes me scream "Why is it so freaking hard then?"

i.de.al couples

2011-06-11T09:47:00.000-07:00

Eggs and canadian bacon

Riggs and Sadie

And of course the couple of the day Jill and Tamara! May you have a long and happy life together!

P.S. I cant walk today...well not without looking a little funny. Thanks!

Rolling

2011-06-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

I need lots of this!! Day 2 of crossfit, walking may be an issue in the next day or two. The paleo/primal eating is still going good. I am working on getting different ideas down for meals/snacks but doing ok so far. Todays workout hurt and I have a slight headache from it. I am not sure if it has to do with the change in eating and my body adjusting, the sun while I was working out, or the actual workout. Also I smelled of ammonia after, ewww. Off to play for the weekend, spending time with some long lost friends!!

My first paleo meal.....and mobile post take one

2011-06-07T19:15:00.001-07:00

Lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado, bacon, grilled chicken with splash of olive oil, vinegar, fresh lemon juice.

Kids say the darndest things

2011-06-06T16:47:00.000-07:00

Today my 4 year old nephew laid it on the line, "Why you don't have no kids?" to which I responded, "I don't know". I pondered for a minute trying to explain to my nephew how desperately we've tried for more than a year now, how twice now I've had my heart broken with what could have been, and how just today I had to accept once again that this was not the month. He's 4 though and while smart enough to realize that I am old enough and should have kids I don't think he would understand.

TTC has become my life over the past year and it is not the i.de.al one I've dreamed of. I just never thought it would be so hard. First it was charting and temp taking, then on to opk's and acupuncture, tests and more tests, pills and shots, peeing and more peeing.........nothing but disappointment and a few extra pounds around the middle. UGHHHH!

Time for a break though and a new chapter. I have let my exercise go by the wayside as well as my healthy eating. I have a plan so stay tuned as I explore crossfit and a paleo way of life. This is not going to be easy but hopefully I will regain what I've lost over the past year or rather lose what I have gained.

My long lost friend.....

2011-02-04T18:46:00.000-08:00

Ughhh, I can't believe that I was i.dle for a whole year. I can't even tell you where the last year has gone except to say THE CLOCK took over my life. Don't fret though I have a whole new list of i.de.al for my life.

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My Hangover

2010-01-28T06:52:00.000-08:00

So here is the deal. This year I put aside the constant goals of eating healthier and working out more as I sat down to confront my new year. This year I am confronting my finances. It's not that I haven't wanted to do this in the past or dreamed of it I just hadn't made that conscious click in my head that I am going to do this.......until now.

It's funny while reading different blogs I am always amazed at people who list their weight or post pictures of their before weight loss photos. I can't imagine how those biggest losers get on the scale (on tv, no less) in a sports bra. I am always in wow. Then I came across some different blogs as I was delving in the my new years plan: conquer my debt, start living my i.de.al life and not my i.dle one where I scrape by paycheck to paycheck making my monthly minimums but ultimately digging myself deeper and deeper. My wow factor went up a notch, these people had too set goals to battle their debt but they took being brave to a whole new level. There it was in black and white for anyone to stumble across just as I had.......their total debt! Talk about facing reality. So at the beginning of this month I collected all my bills and accounts and made a list and totaled it up (insert vomit and week of hibernation sulking here). After hours of research, reading, hyperventilating, a few tears shed I had a plan in place.

Short term goals:

Save up an emergency fund of $500
Cut my monthly expenses
Create no more new debt
Start paying off my accounts using the snowball method

Mid term goals:

Continue paying off my accounts using the snowball method
Increase my emergency fund to $1,000

Long term goals:

Finish paying off my accounts (all debt except for my mortgage)
Increase my emergency fund to cover 6 months living expenses
Maximize my retirement savings

Things that I have accomplished over this past month:

-Cut my monthly phone bill by taking advantage of work discount program (took all of 5 minutes)
-Increased my emergency fund to $446 through selling some stuff I didn't need, setting aside some birthday money, cashing in my reward points (again took like 5-10 minutes online)
-Planned and stuck to menu and grocery lists only going to store once a week
-Just paid off one of my accounts today the 1st of many
-Stopped going to my trainer (saving me a huge chunk of money each month to apply to my bills)

Goals for next month:

-Continue to find ways to save money
-Sell a few more items that just waste space in my house
-Get my taxes done and hopefully finally put an end to my taxxacre from last year

This month has been less than happy for me. First, after stopping the luxury of going to my trainer twice a week I have been less than motivated to workout. (combine that with two weeks of gray skies, rain, and working extra nightshifts) UGHHH! Second, I have been daily stressing about this whole situation. Waiting for the mail to come to see what other bills I have...counting down the days in between paychecks so I can see some headway...and just facing the reality that is. On the other hand all this stress and reality has deepened my desire to be debt free, to break free from the month to month, and finally work for money that I can spend and not work for money that has already been spent. As I make this journey I feel very alone. I am not comfortable or brave enough yet to post my total debt. Maybe next month.

THE CAPRICORN IS ALIVE

2009-12-30T20:38:00.000-08:00

LOOKING BACK, LISTS GALORE

BEST OF'S, WORST'S OF....I DO ADORE

LOOKING AHEAD, A FRESH START

MAKING PLANS RENEWS A GIRL'S HEART.

Jump, Jump, Jump Around....Jump Up, Jump Up and Get Down

2009-09-17T07:25:00.000-07:00

From Chucky Cheese CessPools, Perfume Baths, Surgeries, and Sore Throats this week has flown by.

Forget closing the schools if you want to rid the world of swine flu, why don't you try closing Chucky Cheese. I felt dirtier after spending two hours there for my nephew's 3rd birthday then I do after leaving a 12 hour shift in the er. On a side note, as you can see above racing boats is serious business!

***SOAP BOX OF THE WEEK*** If you work in a hospital you should not wear perfume! If you work anywhere in which you are in contact with other people you should not wear perfume! I'm not talking about the lightest scent in which only the one that loves you most can identify that smell as being yours. I'm talking about the ladies who wake up in the morning and have somehow figured out how to connect their perfume bottle to their shower pipes, thus replacing the water. Thanks to one said lady who I merely had to stand by for 20 minutes at the end of my shift the other day caused an allergic reaction in me that nearly landed me as a patient in the er. Instead I opted to just spend the next two days in a benadryl coma. I am still congested from the incident and now woke up in the middle of the night with a sore throat!

Despite all that, I had a good run of 2 miles on Wed then did about 10 minutes of jumproping. Yesterday, was another wonderful TSOTD which I will be returning to post starting next week for all you out there looking for some weightlifting motivation! After my workout I ran 5 quick hills while on a walk with Riggs. We are working on the leash training and can't wait until he is old enough to go for a real run with me and hiking season is about to start which will mean a whole new world for my pokey little puppy to explore!

Finally, Squidney had to have surgery yesterday to have a huge tumor removed from her back. Hope she gets to feeling better soon!

I love, love, love lululemon workout apparel and also their manifesto which I will share with you bits at a time. To read or learn more about LULULEMON

•A daily hit of athletic-induced endorphins gives you the power to make better decisions, helps you be at peace with yourself, and offsets stress.

For today's athletic-induced endorphins I dare you to find a jumprope and relive your childhood! Not only is jumproping a great calorie burner and metabolism booster it is fun! For specific jump roping workouts or tips on jump roping

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back!

2009-09-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

July - while on vacation I had to put my beloved Barnacle Bo down when he got "bloat" while we were on vacation in WA.......needless to say really, really sucky vacation! I miss him so, so, so much.

I have been in blogging hiberation for the past two months. The summer heat sucked all the life, creativity, and motivation out of me. A recap of some happenings.

August - my pretty Squidney as well as I were devastatedly lonely and depressed missing our best friend.....we welcomed Riggs into our family who has brought much excitement, pee, poop, and chewed up things into our life

Sept - although only the first week, it has started off with a bang! 6 years of nursing and I have successfully avoided the feared deposition.......of course to break the ice I got called in on not one but yes TWO different cases in a matter of the past 5 days, gotta love that.

Other things to make note of:

- I finally went to the chiropractor got an adjustment and 3 weeks of therapy on my hip and am happy to say I am pain free and hopefully getting back into my running frame of mind and body

- I passed my level 3 pilates instructor test. I have two more levels within my program and then I can sit for my national certification!

Final food for thought......how does one break up with their hairdresser? I am in a style rut and the bad part is that as a person I really like my hairdresser and like to go chat it up however just not getting the creativity that the mop of mine needs right now.

Upcoming:

I have decided to forgo the fall garden this year as Riggs has taken a liking to gardening or shall I say excavating and so I think it would be a losing fight at this point in trying to plant anything.

Looking forward to cooler temps and wishing I was taking another trip to New England this month like last year. Such beautiful colors!

Season PremierE!

2009-08-19T08:41:00.001-07:00

STAY TUNED!

I WANT TO HAVE MY CAKE AND EAT IT TOO!

2009-06-29T17:17:00.000-07:00

Ahh...to be 1 again. Happy Birthday Kierstin (cutest niece ever!) I am officially on vacay!!!! Today is a matter of packing and last minute details and then we are off. I will be back mid month with pics of our camping/road trip bonanza and maybe a book review or two. So nice to have time off of work.

It's the final countdown!

2009-06-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

TSOTD - THURSDAY

warm-up
plank - opposite arm/opposite leg up hold - 30 secs/then switch
side ups - 30/side
v-ups - 10
single leg squat hold on flat side of bosu - 30 secs/leg

4 sets

incline press - 10 reps/35lb dumbbells
push-ups (feet on step bench/hands balanced on physio ball) - 10 reps
single leg leg press - 10 reps/leg 4x45lb plates on
jump ups to big tire - 10 reps
hanging knee raises - 15 reps

3 sets

squat to cable row - 10 reps/pin at 25's
assisted pull-ups - 10 reps/pin at 5
rdl's - 10 reps/25lb dumbbells
burpees - 10 reps

1 set

bicep cable curls - 10 reps/pin at 15's
medicine ball overhead raise with single leg raise and opposite leg few inches off ground - 10 reps/leg

Up again at 4am so I also got a bike ride in at 5am.

The countdown now begins. Day 1 of 4 today, may they go fast. We are doing vacay road trip style with lots of camping. We will be doing car camping since we are taking the Barnacle Bo and Squidney along. I am thinking that I may have to get this

We have tried multiple air mattresses and I swear I always wake up with half the air out of it. So I am thinking a thermarest is the way to go and this is suppose to be the deluxe car camping crem'de'la'crem of them. A bit pricey but all the reviews are very positive. If I do get one then I will definitely provide you with a review of it. Who else likes to go camping?

Embrace the things you can not change

2009-06-24T06:52:00.000-07:00

This is what I have decided to do in regards to my frustrating sleep non schedule. After working 4 nights in a row the past two nights at home I have woke up at 3am. Today I decided I would make use of that time. So I was out the door at 5 am off and running. Good thing to, check this forecast out. Todays high - 108!

Good news - I actually ran today
Bad news - a return of my left hip/left it band/l knee irritation....I blame it on my lack of recent massage and my TSOTD yesterday

SUPERSET TUESDAY TSOTD

warm-up
w/ physio ball
30 ball rolls
20 overhead passes

w/ medicine ball
15 - push-up (w/ hands balanced on ball) squat and jump w/ ball throw

3 sets (no resting between two exercises)
10 inverted cable rows
10 chest press (30lb dumbbells)

3 sets
10/leg lunges w/ squat bar
10 - single leg ball hamstring curls

3 sets
10/side - hang clean to overhead press (25lb dumbbell)
15 pushups on bosu ball (flat side up)
25 squats (flat sided up, holding 25lb dumbbell)

3 sets
10 - cable tricep pushdowns (pin at 15)
15 - dips on bench
10/leg - split jumps

3 sets
10 - dumbbell flys (10lb dumbbells)
8 - cat's curls (12lb dumbbells)
30 - situps (holding 25lb dumbbell to chest)

My thoughts of the week:

1. HGTV stubbornly is waiting til the last minute to notify me about winning the green home.
2. Being a female is not all it's cracked up to be. I just switched my bcp and my face is not appreciative of it.
3. I also blame the new hormones for my moment of weakness last night when I indulged in a brownie batter blizzard! Tasted good until I looked up the calorie count for one of those suckers (small = 630 calories! ridiculous)
4. I am currently obsessed with the new song by Katy Perry "That's what you get for waking up in Vegas".....mostly because she uses the word glitter in it.
5. For a detailed look into the uprising of cocaine across this country and the people and money behind it check out the following documentaries "Cocaine Cowboys" and "Cocaine Cowboys II" (triage was very slow the other night and you can watch it on netflix if you have an account)
5. What do you buy a girl for her 1st birthday?
6. How can I get Charm City Cakes to design me a cake for (insert event here)?
7. I wonder if the new palm pre from Sprint is worth the $200? probably not a necessity - it could potentially increase my blogging consistency though and you may get a new picture on here more than once a month.
8. If your out of control pumpkin plants and your out of canteloupe plants start to grow together and the flowers get cross pollinated should you call your crop and cantumpkin? or pumpkaloupe?
9. I am deeply disturbed that I wasted an hour of my time on Monday to hear that Jon and Kate are getting divorced. Why do I care? Why do I support tv programming like this? Ahhhhh, I blame Karen! Prior to living with her back in the day I didn't even have cable, then came cable, then on one very sleepy after night shift afternoon I stumbled into the living room sat down and was immediately sucked into Flava Flav and it has been a downhill slide since then into the reality tv abyss!
10. 4 shifts left until vacay!!!!!

The countdown is on!

2009-06-18T13:35:00.000-07:00

Hmmm....I am currently MIA. I am out of whack. I am discombobulated. I am lost at sea. I have 8 days, 5 shifts, 1 niece's 1st birthday party, and lots to get down in the mean time before I am on vacation for 11 days and nights!!!!! This past week was a wash for me. I got one workout in and only 1 day in at the pilates studio, ugh! Allergies up, hormones on a roller coaster, sleep in the negative, and immune system down did not equal a good, productive week for me. And I worked 60 hours this week so yeah I am all of the aforementioned. Anyways, here is a run down of my
TSOTD (Thursday).

warm-up
reverse crunches w/ physio ball between ankles - 15
plank ball rolls - 20
side ups 15/side w/ 20 second hold knee to chest at end
reverse lunge to balance chest pass w/ medicine ball to wall - 15

3 rounds
alternate chest press 25# dumbbells 10/arm
pushups - 15
single leg leg press 4x 45lb plates 10/leg
plie squats 35lb dumbbell - 15
single arm seated cable row - pin at 35 - 10/arm
inverted row - 15
1/4 mile run on treadmill at speed 7.5

2 rounds
high cable seated on physio ball row - 15
ball leg curl w/ resistance - 15
double arm skull crusher w/ 35lb - 15
1/8 mile run on treadmill at speed of 8.0

20 squat to curl to press using 15lb dumbbells

Any thoughts on what to do with buckets of yellow pear tomatos and cherry tomatos.....the birds are even tired of them!

Today's workout brought to us by the number 8!

2009-06-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

Dear 1st client of the day,
Please do not go get my trainer coffee after your session and before mine. It is just not nice!

Sincerely,
Me

TSOTD - with a triple shot of espresso (FRIDAY)

warm-up
small phsysio ball passes arms to legs - 15
alternate arm/alternate leg crunch with opposite leg 2-3 inches of ground holding onto the 15Lb medicine ball - 10/side
single leg squat to balance with 15lb dumbbell - 10/leg

3 rounds
45 degree incline bench press - 8 reps (1st round 30lb dumbbells, 2nd round 35's, 3rd round 40's)
seated leg press - 8 reps (315lbs)

3 rounds
RDL's - 8 reps (30lb dumbbells)
assisted pull-ups - 8 reps (pin at 5, 2nd rd 4, 3rd round back to 5 as arms went into muscle failure!)

3 rounds
squat to overhead press - 8 reps (30lb medicine ball)
one hand on medicine ball push-ups - 8 reps/arm
falling hamstring curls - 8 reps

2 rounds
cable tricep extension - 8 reps (pin at 15's)
hanging knee raises - 8 reps

Finished off with 30 minutes of arc trainer

Now it is off to work 1st of 3, blah! Next 2 weeks, lots of work.....then vacay!

My piriformis is on fire!

2009-06-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

This morning I taught and then did 2.5 hours of pilates (some self practice then a 1 hr mat class). The mat class was evil, pure evilness including a magic circle and some horrible L position that set my piriformis on fire. My level 2 stuff is going ok, everything is clicking but I still am finding "my voice" for teaching. This afternoon I visited an old friend that has been feeling neglected as of late.....Mr. Treadmill.

For fun I cranked up The Blacked Eyed Peas and did a 1 minute ladder run, first I did an easy .5 miles at a slow jog pace (speed 5.7)

Goes somthing like this.

1 min run/1 min off
1 min run/50 sec off
1 min run/40sec off
1 min run/30 sec off
1 min run/20 sec off
1 min run/10 sec off
1 min run/10 sec off
1 min run/20 sec off
1 min run/30 sec off
1 min run/40 sec off
1 min run/50 sec off
1 min run/and cool down

I started at speed of 8.5 about midway ended up dropping to 8.0 then 7.8; was dying in the middle of this! It was fun though, I guess!

Black-eyed Tigers

2009-06-10T16:59:00.001-07:00

MONDAY
2 hours pilates

TSOTD - TUESDAY

warm - up
crunches on physio ball holding 15lb dumbbell at forehead - 15
side iso's with feet up on bosu -25/side
single leg squat touchdown up to balance and overhead press w/ 15lb dumbbell - 10/side

2rounds (rest 2 minutes between rounds/no rest between different exercises)
alternate arm dumbbell press on physio ball - 25lb dumbbells - 15/arm
push-ups 15
lunges w/ squat bar - 15/leg
box jumps - 15

2 rounds
alternate arm rows - 20lb dumbbells - 15/arm
cable lat pull down one knee on airex pad pin at 30 - 15
single leg ball leg curls - 15/leg
side to side quick jumps - 15

2 rounds
shoulder combo - 8lb dumbbells (raise arms front to sides down up to sides back to front and down = 1 rep) - 10
cats curls - 12lb dumbbells - 8 each direction then 8 hammers
cable tricep extension pin at 15? 10 palms down/10 palms up
hanging knee raises - 15
dips on bench - 15

WEDNESDAY -
2 hours pilates lab

Onto the better part of my week now. I actually had a great, "felt good to be a nurse" night at work last night. Today after my pilates lab I hung out by the pool and started reading my Runners World that came in the mail. I downloaded the new Black Eyed Peas album which has me super pumped to go run to tomorrow. Finally, I just got back from seeing THE HANGOVER. This movie is not for the faint of heart or easily offended crowd, however if you want to laugh your ass off until your face hurts I highly recommend this movie!!!!! oh and you enjoy some sophomoric humor which I do as long as it's good and not trying to hard.

MY MONDAY, NOT MY FUNDAY

2009-06-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

TSOTD - FRIDAY AM

Plank w/ 25lb plate on for 1 min
Pull over situps w/ 25lb plate - 15 reps
Flutter kicks holding 25lb plate up – 30 sec
Side iso top leg into chest – 30 sec?/side

3 rounds
Single arm chest press 25# dumbbell other hand on hip incline bench – 10 reps/arm
Push-ups on physio ball – 10
Single leg leg press 135lbs?? – 10 /leg
Jump up to tire - 10 quick

3 rounds
Single leg Single arm Dumbell Row w/ 25# dumbbell – 10/arm
Assisted Pull-ups – 10
Side Lunges holding 15lb dumbbells – 10/leg
Ball leg curl – 10 w/ resistance

2 rounds
Bicep curls w/ 20lbs on short curlbar – 10
Tricep skull crushers w/ 15 lb dumbbells – 10
Rear flys w/ 8lb dumbbells – 10

I am off to work next 3, yuk! Really sucks because their is an actual cooldown in the desert this weekend so I would rather be hiking, running, working in the yard (weird I know), riding my bike, oh and would also rather go see THE HANGOVER that comes out tonight because it looks hilarious! Too bad I am not that 23 year old SD rancher who just picked up $232.1 million dollars in the powerball! I still have my fingers crossed though that I will win the HGTV Green Home! I could handle a move to Florida next to the ocean! As of June 29 I will officially be on vacation for 12 days, if I make it til then! Hope you all have a fun weekend, do something fun and exciting for those of us who have to work!

SLEEP DISORDERS AND GARDEN DELIGHTS

2009-06-03T16:12:00.000-07:00

I HAVE UNOFFICIALLY OFFICIALLY DIAGNOSED MYSELF WITH A SLEEP DISORDER. I WAS UP AGAIN LAST NIGHT FROM 12:30-4 AM THEN OVERSLEPT THIS MORNING AND MISSED MY TRAINER APPOINTMENT. LUCKILY? UNLUCKILY HE ALLOWED ME TO COME IN AND WORKOUT THIS AFTERNOON BUT I HAD TO WORKOUT WITH THE FIREFIGHTER WANNABE'S (2 OF HIS GUY CLIENTS THAT ARE BOTH TESTING AT DIFFERENT FIRE DEPTS). SO HERE IT IS....TSOTD FIREFIGHTER STYLE!

warm - up????

2 ROUNDS

SQUAT THRUSTER TO OVERHEAD PRESS 20# DUMBBELLS - 15 REPS
PUSH UP POSITION ROW/ROW - 10 REPS
BURPEES W/ PUSHUP - 10

1 ROUND
TRAINER HATERS (PUSH UP/ROW/ROW/SQUAT/CURL/OVERHEAD PRESS) - 20# DUMBBELLS - 10 REPS

3 ROUNDS
TRACTOR TIRE FLIP (YES, I AM SERIOUS)
50 M SPRINT

2 ROUNDS
SIDE THROW TO WALL W/ MEDICINE BALL 10REPS/SIDE
SQUAT CHEST THROWS W/ MEDICINE BALL 15REPS

3 ROUNDS
OLYMPIC BAR BENCH PRESS 75# - 8 REPS
CABLE LAT PULL DOWN ONE KNEE ON AIREX PAD PINS AT 35 - 8 REPS
FORWARD FALL HAMSTRING CURLS - 8 REPS

1 ROUND
UP/UP/DOWN/DOWN - IN PLANK POSITION ON ELBOWS COME UP FROM ONE ELBOW TO HAND THEN THE OTHER THEN GO BACK DOWN TO ONE ELBOW THEN OTHER ALTERNATING WHICH ONE COMES UP FIRST - 1-2 MINUTES NOT STOPPING
LOW LEG HOLD - WITH THUMBS UNDER BUTT HOLD LEGS OFF GROUND 5-6 INCHES USING ABS - 30SEC - 1 MINUTE

I WILL SLEEP WHEN I AM DEAD

2009-05-29T17:51:00.000-07:00

TSOTD: FRIDAY
Warm up

overhead medicine ball pull sit ups - 20
overhead medicine ball leg raises - 20
medicine ball russian twist - 20/side

3 rounds

ball leg curls - 20
single arm dumbbell 25# hang clean to press - 10/arm
pull up hang 30 sec
walking lunges 10/side - round 1
side lunges 10/side - round 2
front/side/transverse lunge 5/side -round 3

3 rounds

push up to row/row with dumbbells 15# - 10
rdl's to upright row w/ dumbbells 15# - 15
split lunge jumps - 20

2 rounds

cats curls 12#
bench dips - 25 (round 1); 30 (round 2)
P.S. - MY HAMSTRINGS ARE KILLING ME NOW 2 DAYS AFTER THIS WORKOUT!!!!

WORK.....PILATES LEVEL 2 LECTURE SAT/SUN WITH LOTS OF COOL NEW EXERCISES TO TEACH....WORK.....AND THIS

****SO I HAVE BEEN REALIZING THAT MY 24 HOUR WAKING DAYS HAVE STARTED TO BECOME MORE AND MORE OFTEN (PROBABLY NOT A GOOD THING); ON THE OTHER HAND AT ABOUT 4AM MY 22ND HOUR AWAKE I OUTCALCULATED A PREPROGRAMMED PUMP FOR A DRUG CALCULATION ON ONE OF MY PATIENTS. MY THOUGHTS ON THAT ARE THIS, I CAN FUNCTION PRETTY DAMN WELL WITH NO SLEEP. I WOULD PROBABLY MINUS THE RUNNING PART OF THE ORDEAL DO OK AT AN ULTRA EVENT BECAUSE I ROUTINELY AM ON MY FEET FOR 12 HOURS STRAIGHT AND HAVE MORE FREQUENTLY BEEN PUTTING IN THE 24 HOUR DAYS SO I AM ACCUSTOM TO FUNCTIONING ON VERY LITTLE SLEEP, LOL.

SO OTHER THAN NO SLEEP THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY WEEKEND (THANKS TO FACEBOOK) WAS YESTERDAY WHEN I WENT TO LUNCH WITH A GOOD FRIEND FROM HIGH SCHOOL THAT I HAVEN'T SEEN SINCE THE SUMMER AFTER OUR SENIOR YEAR (15 YEARS!). SHE WAS IN TOWN FOR A CONFERENCE AND WE RECENTLY FOUND EACH OTHER ON FACEBOOK. IT WAS SO, SO, SO GOOD TO SEE AN OLD FRIEND!!!!!!

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST THE FUNNIEST THING THAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT WAS WHEN THE PSYCHOLOGIST IN ALL SERIOUSNESS TOLD ME THAT SHE ASKED THE COOK IN THE CAFETERIA WHAT TYPE OF MEAT THE CHICKEN FRIED STEAK WAS AND WAS DISAPPOINTED TO FIND OUT THAT IT WAS BEEF BECAUSE SHE HAD ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS CHICKEN?!?!! LOL

AND NOW IT IS TIME FOR SLEEP! GOODNIGHT (0738 AM)

QUICK UPDATE:

2009-05-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

I haven't run away, well because that would involve running which I have done none of lately! What have I been doing work, work, catching up on sleep from last week, more work. If you all remember the taxxacre I suffered earlier this year I am currently working my butt of to pay off Uncle Sam sooner rather than later. Also, I had my level one pilates instructor test today. I passed my practical with just a few minor mistakes and haven't got my written test back, but feel very confident in all my answers.

I did have a TSOTD on Monday, but forgot to post it as it was after work and I went straight to bed after getting home.

Working tonight and tomorrow but planning on a TSOTD in between hopefully with a post of the fun and games. This weekend is my level two lecture. For now I will just breathe, having level one under my belt feels much better.

Ending thought: WELCOME FAIR WEATHER RUNNER, glad to hear that my TSOTD inspire you. The one good thing I get from paying my trainer is that I am never bored with my workout and never feel like it is routine.

The circadian clock strikes again!

2009-05-20T23:51:00.000-07:00

After working 4 nights in a row, off one, on again, and off again my circadian clock is on the fritz! I haven't had a week like this since before Christmas. Monday night I was off and was up from midnight to 4am. This morning I got off work at 3am then my stupid phone rang at 9am (I am usually really good about shutting my ringer off). Now I am super sleepy. I feel asleep at around 10 then a truck outside woke me up at 10:30 and I tossed and turned, my mind started going a million miles an hour, and here I am. The sad thing is I have been practice teaching pilates and studying it so much that I lay there and count out "The Hundred" over and over in my head. Inhale, 2, 3, 4, 5; exhale 2,3,4,10; inhale 2,3,4,5; exhale 2,3,4,20......one would think that it would be numbing like counting sheep. It's not. I skipped my run Monday morning after work : < Then was planning on running early Tuesday morning before having to get the weekly grocery shopping in prior to going to work; but that was the day I was up from 12-4am so when I finally went to sleep I didn't wake up until the last possible minute. Despite still being tired today I had my pilates instructor lab and then went to the torture chamber.

TSOTD -
medicine ball warm-up (see previous tsotd); quick 10 minutes of shooting hoops with my trainer while waiting for the girl working out with me to show up; and ran 1 lap around the building

ME - "really? I have to run around the building?"
JAKE (TRAINER) - "REALLY, I don't want you to cool down"
ME - "I could just stand outside. It is Arizona"
JAKE - "Go"

Onto the meat of this sandwich

21/15/9 today's selection

Thrusters w/ squat bar
Push-ups
Box Jumps

do 21 reps each, then 15, then 9; no resting in between as fast as you can keep good form

Moving on

6 rounds of 6 reps

Deadlift - 95#
Pull-ups - assisted (trainer holding feet) - I still suck at these!
Squat Jumps

***I really need to work on my deadlifts (form) and pull-ups (incentive to drop another 5-10 lbs, less weight to pull-up)

and moving on

2 rounds

lunge holding medicine ball to side, keeping arms straight, lift up and to opposite side 5 reps/leg
50 meter sprint
10 swings w/ 20lb dumbbell arms straight powering through legs as dumbbell goes up (think kettle bell swing)
50 meter sprint
10 count push-up hold (not on my count either!)
50 meter sprint

and DONE!

I am scheduled to go run with a friend at 6am, come on sandman bring me some sleeeeep!

TOMORROW - DIY HOT WATER HEATER REPLACEMENT - WEEEEEE!

mundayne....

2009-05-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

TSOTD -

jumpboard intervals reformer workout

Nothing like working 4 nights in a row, having one off, and gearing up for another tomorrow and being up at 1am wide awake. Not a bad thing to keep a night schedule when working like that, but much easier to do when you live alone and can crank the music and get your household chores done. When I first moved into my house and lived alone I pretty much painted my entire house during nights I didn't work. Now when I can't sleep it involves a lot of reading and websurfing. Not as productive as I would like. Well I guess this will be a good time to study for my level one test. Despite being a nurse the functional anatomy that I have to learn for my test does require me to study. I tried to explain to my anatomy teacher that even though I see a lot of musculoskeletal injuries while working in the er; my job pretty much goes like this.....

"Here is your vicodin and you need to follow up with the orthopedic doctor"

Work is annoying lately. My schedule is super busy right now. I really, really want to be here

LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE GIRL!

2009-05-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

RACHEL ALEXANDRA - 1ST FILLY IN 85 YEARS TO BEAT OUT THE BOYS AT THE PREAKNESS STAKES IN MARYLAND TODAY!

***Mine That Bird ran a damn good race and what a kick that horse has just wasn't a long enough race today for a Triple Crown this year!***

WHAT DAY IS IT?

2009-05-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

Wow, I have been busy this week and I am on another 4 day stretch of 12's at work. My garden is taking a turn for the worse I think. This past week's 100+ degree temps have not been kind to it. This is my first year with a garden in the desert so I am still learning how plants respond and how to water/feed them. I lost one zuchini plant and think my other one is dying also. I do not think the zuchine are dying from the heat, I think they have disease. Anyways, not to worry the pumpkin plants are still growing like crazy so if nothing else I will have some of the best jack-o-laterns come October (August at this rate, lol). We are about midway through my level one pilates class. I have to take my level one test by May 28th which I don't know how I will be ready for that at all! This upcoming week I am just as busy as this past week, in fact my schedule does not let up until the first week in July when we are going to Washington! Road trip! Cool weather! No work!

TSOTD (this was on Thursday) not my best workout I had no energy... not sure if it was a touch of dehydration (I definitely have not been drinking enough water with the increased heat) or if it was not having the right fuel earlier that day.

alternating single arm lat pull down 25 - 15/side
single leg/leg press - 90lbs? 15/side
push-up to burpee w/ 15lb dumbbells press at end - 15

round 2 same except
lat pull down 35 lb/arm - 12

round 3 same except
single arm lat pull down 35lbs/8 per arm then switch
full burpee

30lb dumbbell alt arm incline chest press - 15/arm
ball leg curls single leg - 15/side
jumps

round 2 same except
35lb dumbbells inc chest press - 15

round 3 same except
35lb sing arm inc chest press 8 per side

3 rounds
lateral arm raises/ forward arm raises/ bent over dumbbell flys 12/8 lbs - 20
dips on bench - 20
bosu squats w/ 25 lb plate - 20

OBLIQUES, OH MY!

2009-05-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent another 4 hours or so at the studio doing more class observation and practice teaching. Today we have our first lab in the studio which hopefully will increase the comfort level while practicing on my guinea pigs somewhat.

Just a side note, my obliques are sooooo sore from my pilates class on Monday night!

This morning I got an early start and have already got my 2 mile run in (just went along the canal, felt ok although I think I was still asleep during it). And I finished mowing, trimming, and raking my front yard. The early bird beats the 100 degree temps. Starting tomorrow I work another 4 shifts in a row, ughhh. (Can you tell how excited I am?)

DAY OFF?

2009-05-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

First, let me just say that Sunday night at work sucked! I have not had a shift like that in a while. It wasn't one of those I had back to back codes or STEMI shifts either. It was one of those I had at least 12 admit shifts, nothing was simple, every time you turned around to do something equipment not there, "I need more pain meds", and every time you walked into a room to do nursing stuff the admit Dr. called to have you take telephone orders! I swear I should get half of his paycheck from the other night just for writing down all his damn admit orders!! I was not a happy ER nurse Sunday night. The techs were a little scared of me and about 04:30 am when I still had not peed or eaten (since before 7:30pm) I was not being a nice person.

So, after my shift I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill. Nothing like a few treadmill sprints to shake off a bad night.
TSOTD

Warm-up
1 mile - speed at 6.5 w/ incline 1 (incline stayed same throughout workout)

Sprints -
15 sprints

30 sec on/30 sec rest - starting speed 8.5 increasing over the course of the 15 sprints until the final 2 sprints speed was set at 11.

Cool-down

.5 mile - speed at 6

Last night I got 1 hour instruction in at the pilates studio. After that the next class was empty so the instructor did a 1:1 class with me and kicked my butt! actually it was my abs that were crying.....but ended with some great IT stretches on the Cadillac (I need one of these things in my house!).

New thoughts on my cardio training for the summer.......

Anyone out there do cross-fit? A lot of my TSOTD are cross-fit hybrids that my trainer does with me. I am thinking of following the crossfit main wod 2-3x/week in addition to the 1-2 TSOTD that I do with my trainer and also following the crossfit endurance wod 2-3x/week. I've been reading a lot about it and it sounds interesting. With the heat and having to do more workouts on the treadmill over the summer and not really having any races planned for the next few months I thought it would be a good time to give it a shot and see if it increases my endurance. It is quite a change from the long, slow distance (LSD) training concept that most runners know and have a love/hate relationship with. Although I have read quite a few accounts where people have done nothing but crossfit and crossfit endurance workouts to train for a full ironman and not only finished but pr'd.

Any thoughts? experience?

Today is one of my "days off", but with the instructor training program I am doing I really don't have any days off anymore. Although spending time at the pilates studio is peaceful compared to my shifts at the hospital.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

2009-05-10T16:21:00.001-07:00

MY MOM AND I AFTER THE PF CHANG'S ROCK AND ROLL 1/2 MARATHON IN PHOENIX JAN 09. IT WAS HER FIRST RACE EVER! SO, SO PROUD OF HER!

FOUR IN A ROW!

2009-05-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

W
O
R
K

UGHHHH! THIS IS A TORTURE SESSION IN AND OF ITSELF.

It's not that I hate my job, it's that I hate having to work it gets in the way of my life!

BOOM BOOM POW

2009-05-06T16:11:00.000-07:00

I can not get this song out of my head!

Yesterday I did my first practice teaching sessions (3 different girls from work came for their first pilates workout with me!). I think I did ok. I did some more observation hours this morning watching the other instructors. I am planning on featuring some different mat pilates exercises on here. I have just been overwhelmed with trying to get into the routine of doing all the hours at the studio on top of everything else. Last night I spent good amount of time weeding and working the soil in my garden. I skipped my run last night, this morning, and on the treadmill at the gym today : < My run will still be waiting for me when I get to it, so I am not too worried.

It is officially summer (100+degrees) here in AZ with a foreseeable future of much the same! Almost pool season which made me think about this ad that I believe came out last year. I myself thought it was funny and taped it up to one of the guys lockers at work because he was saying how he needed to get into shape for swimsuit season. When I looked for it today on the Internet I found quite a few "I hate Special K" rants because of this ad. While I don't condone the challenge of switching two meals/day to cereal in order to fit into a bikini; I still find this ad funny in a "hey get off your ass type of way!" (a real challenge would be to take my cereal away from me of course that cereal would not be special K because that is boring cereal!) What do you think about the ad?

Finally, here it is today's TSOTD

warm up:

overhead medicine ball sit-ups - 15

flutter kicks - too long? any flutter kicks are too long if you are not in a swimming pool!

squat to high throw w/ medicine ball against wall - 15

3 rounds

hang clean to squat to overhead press - 45#bar/10 reps

burpee to jump-up pull up - 10 reps (kids don't try these at home, they will suck the life out of you)

push-up to row/row with the 20# dumbbells - 5 push-ups/5 rows right arm/5 rows left arm

assisted dips (pin at 5) - 10

3 rounds

single leg roman dead lift (rdl's) - 20# dumbbells/10 reps per leg

stability ball alternating butterfly - 20#dumbbells/10 reps per arm

bench jumps - 10

squat side steps w/ green and blue band around ankles - 15 steps each way

core round

medicine ball overhead sit up throw to partner - 15

partner russian twist (feet off ground) w/ medicine ball - 15/side

squat to throw w/ partner using medicine ball - 10

side throws w/ partner using medicine ball - 10/side

BUSY LITTLE BEE

2009-05-04T09:39:00.000-07:00

TSOTD (after my 12 hr shift last night)

warm-up

15 ball crunch w/ twist

15 stability ball on forearms roll forward and back

20 lunges avalanche medicine ball style (if you ever need to dig your way out of an avalanche with basketball this is the exercise for you!) - functional fitness is important

4 rounds

95# deadlift - 8 reps

30# alternating dumbbell press - 8 reps/arm

25# dumbbell swings to full extension? - 8 reps

30# dumbbell row (on bench) - 8 reps/arm

3 rounds

medicine ball opposite arm/opposite leg crunch up - 10 reps/side

12# dumbbells on bosu ball squat/curl/press - 10 reps

assisted dips (pin at 6) - 10 reps

25# dumbbell pull over to skull crusher - 15 reps

wall sit 1-2 minutes

AND SLEEP!

This evening I went to the studio. I got one hour in of observation and then did my self practice in the reformer class that was going on. We also worked some on the wunda chair. Tomorrow I am teaching my first "students", kinda nervous!

Who moved my cheese?

2009-05-02T09:09:00.000-07:00

TSOTD - dealing with the new computer program at work while still trying to provide quality patient care in the er........and now staying awake through pilates class after having worked all night.

After work this morning I went for a short run; 2 miles; 4 min run/1 min walk; hips/low back/hip flexors soooooo tight from my workout Thursday and work last two days. Just got done foam rolling and stretching feeling a little better.

OH AND WE CAN'T FORGET!

The true athletes will be running the track today in Kentucky! I am rooting for General Quarters to win it all!

PANDEMIC UPDATE!

2009-05-01T16:13:00.000-07:00

Last night at work a local news station decided to fuel the fire and do live remote from outside the er. Some local schools got shut down and at 5:00pm sharp they started rolling in with their fevers, cough, aches, and runny noses! And for their overwhelming devotion to their health (ha!) they got two qtips up the nose and one to the back of the throat, dose of tylenol, one week off of work or school, and a pat on the back! Don't worry if this sounds like fun to you, you haven't missed out! Luckily for you EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS are open 24/7!!!!!!

****the part about the week off of work sounded appealing at first, but then I remembered you don't get a week off of your bills****

TSOTD - WAKING UP! Still working on that one. Today is a rest day for me and my body soooo needs it. After that TSOTD yesterday I was getting so stiff the last 4 hours of my shift yesterday!

THE SIMPLE LIFE - DAY 1

-I made turkey lettuce wraps for lunch/dinner (I always just take my leftovers for a second meal at work later). Ingredients included ground turkey, crushed garlic, shredded carrots, chopped red/yellow bell peppers, soy sauce, hoison sauce, chili paste, and the most green ingredient..........green onions from my garden!

I am not riding my bike to work tonight because I did not get the bike corral key from security yet : < I will work on that tonight while I am there!

GREEN ACRES IS THE PLACE FOR ME!

2009-04-30T11:57:00.000-07:00

TORTURE SESSION OF THE DAY (TSOTD) :

warm-up - medicine ball wall throws (overhead/15 reps, chest/15 reps, facing forward side throws/15 reps each side); squats w/ bar only (45#)/10 reps

1st set - 3 rounds

5 squats - round 1 (65#), rounds 2&3 (95#)

5 lateral raises - 12 lb dumbbells

2nd set - 7....yes 7 rounds!

8 deadlifts - (65#)

50 m sprint

8 assisted pull-ups alternating wide grip and neutral grip (pin at 6 for rounds 1&2, at 5 for rounds 3,4,5, &6, then assisted bar chin-ups for round 7)

Rest 45 secs between rounds. I'm not going to lie my arms were in failure for my round 7 chin-ups and they were pretty pathetic to say the least!

3rd set - 2 rounds

15 cable lat pull downs (I actually have no clue what my weight was on this because I was gone at this point.......maybe 25? 35? for each cable)

8 cat's curls - 10lb dumbbells (8 internal rotation curls, 8 external rotation curls, 8 hammer curls = 1 cat's curl)

cool-down=LOTS AND LOTS OF STRETCHING!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of May (already! May never came this fast when I was in school)! Also, it marks the beginning of The Simple Life Challenge

Here is how I am suppose to track my points:

Tracking your points:

•1 point for riding your bike, carpooling, taking the public trans, running, or walking to work or to the market or some place you would normally drive too.
•1 point for every meal you prepare at home(not snacks just meals).
•1 point for doing something frugal! This is where you can get really creative!

Eating out is not too big of a deal for me. The creative frugal thing is something I am going to have to think about. As for the green commuting......I need to get a key from security at my one job to lock my bike up in the bike cage (otherwise that will be short-lived); my other job I work 3p-3a and it is a little farther away (the buses don't run out there at that time of night and safety is more of a concern at 3am then being green is so I don't plan on biking there); I will try to ride my bike to my TSOTD's in May.

In doing this challenge it made me think about some things yesterday as I was reading a few magazines. Is having a magazine subscription "non-green"; what if I donate my used magazines to the hospital, and then they get recycled after that? Is reading a news publication or magazine online actually "greener" despite the plastic and other products used to make my computer and also the electricity it uses up while reading on-line?

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT (UPDATE).....I FOUND THE SOURCE!

2009-04-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

Had to share that, thought it was pretty funny in all the mass hysteria!

Torture Session Of The Day(TSOTD) -

GROCERY SHOPPING!!!!!

Lol, seriously though if I was rich these are the things that would be at the top of my list to spend money on:

1. Professional driver - except for the month of May because I am going to try and ride my bike or walk more to places I would normally drive.....it's the Live Simply Challenge brought to us by N Her Shoes

2. Professional menu planner and grocery shopper

3. Professional ironer - if they are BOARD with just that they can actually do the laundry too!

Ok, on to real stuff! This morning I ran at 5:30am!!!! It was actually quite nice out, I forgot how nice it is to run that early in the morning. I ran with the bf who hasn't ran since the Ragnar Relay back in Feb. We did an easy 1.5 miles since it was his first day back running. I say easy, but I definitely have a faster pace whenever I run with him because he is just naturally (ARMY trained) faster (and taller) than I am.

My quads are pretty tight so after this I am going to revisit yoga for runners and my foam roller. Tonight we bbq'd some teriyaki steak skewers and peppers. Squidney invited some friends to join us, they decided to go for swim.

Hope everyone had a good day and remember WASH YOUR HANDS!

TSOTD

2009-04-28T16:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening I went on a nice bike ride along the canals with one of my friends. We rode about 8 miles. At the 4 mile turnaround we caught the back end of a community world gym trail and so we followed it off the path and stopped and did some of the exercises along the way push-ups, balance walk, leg raises, and pull-ups (lol, well the attempts were at least hilarious). Today I spent all morning cleaning and doing laundry which is typical of Tuesdays. This afternoon I met up with my trainer for this. I am going to try and start posting more of my workouts like this mostly as a journal of workouts to do on my own.

TORTURE SESSION OF THE DAY (TSOTD)

total time - 60 minutes (resting 1 minute between rounds)

warm-up - y/t/w; hanging knee raises

Round 1 -

alternate arm chest press on ball - 30# dumbbells/10 reps

burpee jump up to box - 10 reps

single arm squat to clean w/ 20# dumbbell/10 reps each arm

sprint 100m? was outside gym in parking lot area distance not measured

Round 2 -

repeat round 1

backpedal 25m? sprint 50m? backpedal 25m?

Round 3 -

repeat round 1 doing only 8 reps of each exercise; increase dumbbells for chest press to 35#

shuffle right 25m? sprint 50m? shuffle left 25m?

Round 4 -

repeat round 3

ali shuffle 25m? backpedal 25m? sprint 25m? shuffle 25m?

Round 5 -

medicine ball push-up (move ball from r to l in between push-ups)/ 8 reps

side to side jumps on step box (4 tall)/8 reps

hanging knee raises/20 reps

assisted dips (3 or 4 on machine) /15 reps

Round 6-

medicine ball push-ups/8 reps

broad jumps/8 reps

plank on medicine ball with 1 leg in air (30 secs/each leg)

assisted dips/15 reps

Round 7-

clapping push-ups on bench/8 reps

bunny hops over mini hurdles (30-40 jumps)

russian twist w/ medicine ball/20 reps each side

assisted dips/15 reps

This evening I went to an advanced pilates class which we worked mostly on the wunda chair and tower. Tonight I learned that changing an exercise in even the slightest can make all the difference in the world. Normally, I can do a pretty decent teaser or at least I think I can. Tonight we did a teaser with the pull-down bar on the tower under I knees and as you go up into teaser you slide the pull down bar along the back of your calf up to your ankle. For the life of me it was like I couldn't even lift my legs off of the floor with the bar like that. Then we turned around and did teaser with lifting the bar up above our heads and I was back to being able to do a decent teaser (so weird). To most of you that last paragraph probably is jibber jabber so just ignore.

Sunday Brunch

2009-04-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

Normally, I am asleep at this time because I usually work Saturday nights. So what does a girl do on a Sunday morning off. Go for a run!

I had a nice 2 mile run this morning (I'm still sticking with the 2 miles/run for a few weeks to get my legs back under me). Today I ran 9 minutes/walked 1 min during my run which ended up being just under 20 minutes and I am ok with that because I still have not had any knee or IT band pain while I am running which is WONDERFUL, MAGNIFICENT, AMAZING! I did some stretching and foam rolling when I got home. My hip flexors and low back still get pretty tight and I am starting to get a little sore from my workout yesterday.

Next up, work in the garden!

Here are some updated pics of the pumpkin patch, oops I mean ant hill, oh wait I mean garden!

These are my sunflowers that I just got planted a few days ago and already they are springing up! Sunflowers are my favorite!

Look strawberries! One is already turning red! Although I am not seeing many more blooms on them, any suggestions?

Last week I replanted some okra since only a few seeds took the first time. Much better results now that the ground is warmer!

Corn stalks looking good!

Finally, the problem child. Check out the huge blooms on the pumpkin plants! Also, check out how the pumpkin plants are taking over the carrots and green onions. I know I should cut them back some. Also, I have ants! Specifically all around the back side of the pumpkin plants where I found an ant hill. Any suggestions on how to get rid of them without poisoning my dogs or my garden?

So I am hoping to meet up with a good friend for brunch now that I haven't seen in a while. Then it is back to work tonight. Has anyone seen THE STAND recently? WASH YOUR HANDS AND STAY HOME IF YOU ARE SICK!

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!

2009-04-25T19:30:00.001-07:00

WASH YOUR HANDS, WASH YOUR HANDS, WASH YOUR HANDS PEOPLE!

If any of you have watched the news this weekend I am sure you have heard of the mutant swine flu which they are stating is a flu virus that resembles part swine flu, part bird flu, and part human flu virus. The CDC is concerned about this for a number of reasons. Mexico City is basically shut down according to the news and cases have been confirmed here in CA, TX, and I have now heard KS and possibly NY. One of the most concerning things about this strain is that it most of the people it has killed in Mexico are between ages of 20-40 an age group usually not affected to this extent by flu viruses which make it more of a concern of having a wider outbreak. Again all I can say people is WASH YOUR HANDS! Here is a resource (there are a million resources out there)

http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/oids/epi/flu/swine/index.htm

Ok onto fun? stuff.

My torture session of the day (aka personal trainer) started off with a little competition among his clients and ultimately with yourself. Here is the deal.

21/15/9

The sequence of the exercises goes like this -

squat thrusters (I was using 2-20lb dumbbells), push-ups, burpees (hands down to ground, jump back to plank, then jump feet back to hands and explode into vertical jump)

The basics of it is you do 21 reps of each exercise, then 15 reps of each, then 9 reps of each. You can rest when you want, but you are clocking your time from beginning of first rep to end of last. My time was 6:42. This was my first time doing this and I felt pretty good about my time, but definitely will try to beat this in the future. Try it out sometime; let me know what your time was.

Keep on keeping on'

2009-04-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I did another easy 2 miles this time at 8am. It's only April and already I hate running at 8am. I don't think it is the heat so much as it is the desert sun beating down on me. I really hate 5 am, but it is going to have to happen. I hate wearing stuff on my head (hats, headphones, sunglasses, bandannas, baskets of fruit, etc) while I run, but I may have to just try a few different running hats that can block some of that desert sun.

Question of the day? Do you run with a hat? Sunglasses? Headphones? If so what kind?

My mom runs with a baseball cap on (of the cotton sort) and I offered to buy her one that wicks the sweat away and stays cooler and she said "No, then I wouldn't form a sweat ring on it. That is how everyone can tell how hard I am working when I am running."

So besides my 2 mile run yesterday I worked at my new job so I guess you could add a 12 hour walk to that training total. I tried to wear a pedometer at work one day to see how far I had walked by the end of my shift. My data was slightly skewed. I think mostly due to the fact that the pedometer I was wearing was from my box of Corn Pops.

This weekend I start my Pilates instructor program which throws my schedule for a curve. Work, workout, treadmill run, lecture.....sleep......lecture, work.

Coming up next week - more running! more pilates! updated garden pics aka killer pumpkin plants from outer space! maybe some local pics from bike ride or hike!

I scream, you scream, we all scream

2009-04-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

ICE CREAM!!!

Today was a cross train day and another hot one. 98 degrees!

Cross train - 60 min Pilates Reformer class (focused on some basics); favorite exercise of day = Single Leg Thigh Stretch

One-hundred and TWO degrees

2009-04-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

HOT! HOT! HOT! Summer has arrived here in the desert. The temperature peaked yesterday at 102 in the valley of the sun sometime in the mid afternoon. Due to my being unable to find Motivation yesterday morning I ended up running at 6:30 pm. Still daylight and I am sure still well up in the high 90's. I ran an easy 2 miles - yogging 4 minutes and walking 1 minute throughout. My left it band/knee didn't hurt at all! I was a little tight afterwards, stretched, and foam rolled. The legs are feeling pretty good this morning so despite my runs being very slow and short right now I am happy that I am not having any pain and shall continue with my very slow build up of a new and improved base. Today is a cross train day.

While running yesterday and realizing that it is only going to get worse as far as the heat goes I was thinking about how people continue to be runners living in the desert in the summer. Here are some options I came up with. Please feel free to add to this.

A. Become a hamster and join a gym!
B. Become a bat and run at 3 am!
C. Become a camel and continue your normal routine!

Dear Motivation,

2009-04-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

Where are you hiding? I woke up this morning hoping to see you. I've looked near the coffee pot where you sometimes like to hide. The yard, the laundry, the garden, the workout, the run....all these things are in dire need of your presence today. I will keep looking.

GO KARA!!!!!

2009-04-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

WATCH THE BOSTON MARATHON LIVE ON THE INTERNET RIGHT NOW!

http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?CLIP_ID=110201&_MODE_=EVENT&db_oem_id=23000

Sunday Brunch

2009-04-19T18:06:00.000-07:00

I wish. That is one thing that sucks about working sat/sun nightshift is you don't get to enjoy a good lazy Sunday brunch because it is in the prime of your sleeping hours.

This morning I drove straight from work to the gym to meet up with my trainer. It is sooooo hard to go workout after I get off work in the mornings but during and after it is not so bad and I actually get my workout in. It felt good to be lifting weights again. My last trainer session was almost exactly one month ago (03/20). Maybe the lull in training will jump start my body since it will think I am doing something new again.

Workout - 60 minutes of I can't remember what, lol! My brain shut off about 5 minutes into my workout and then it was just robot zone. It was a good workout, hard but not as bad as I thought my first back would be (ask me again tomorrow when the lactic acid sets in)!

Back to work now - food for thought though.

If you go to a doctor for a physical complaint don't be shocked when the nurse asks you to change into a gown. I mean really is this such a novel concept? Also it is rude to continue to text message while a health care provider is trying to explain something to you and even ruder to continue after they have asked you nicely to put the f$@#*!#g phone down.

Cross train Saturday

2009-04-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

Todays cross train was pilates (reformer class) - 60 minutes

I again ventured into class with a new teacher. It is actually really fun going to classes with different teachers because they all focus on correctly just slightly different parts of your form. This was the first time I have had a male pilates teacher (actually I take that back I was a guinea pig for Bart when he was going through instructor training). Either way it was a great class and my favorite exercise/stretch of the day which I haven't done since going to STOTT class was The Mermaid.

When I got home I did some foam rolling and further stretching. My legs were a bit more taxed by the mere 20 minute yog I did yesterday than my cardio was. It is amazing how fast you lose it.

Ok so this post is short and sweet as it is now time for my weekend vampire life to start. To mix things up a bit and because my trainer cancelled my friday torture session I will be dragging my tired self to the gym in the am for some good ol' weight training torture! I can feel the lactic acid brewing already!

Have a great rest of the weekend. Good Luck to everyone in Boston especially Kara!

THE END OF A HIATUS

2009-04-17T18:37:00.000-07:00

Running shoes on, check. Watch, check (not like I need to keep some pace or am going to lose track of the hours and hours I am not about to run). MP3 player? Not today, must concentrate (where is that thing anyways? I should cancel Napster. I bite the bullet and get an ipod. Why I don't even know where my mp3 player is). Hydration? This short of an outing will not require such (have I drank any water today? hmmm....coffee, coffee, better take a few sips of water before I go). Weather? Sunny, warm, no wind. And I was off and running.

Actually I walked for a few minutes to loosen up the legs, get the blood flowing. Stopped at the footbridge over the canal to stretch. Wouldn't you know it, I get a splinter in my hand from the stupid railing while trying to stretch. No worries though MRSA won't take over at least for a day or so. And then I was off and running.

Actually it was more of a jogging, shuffling, pathetic little run but there I went. And then I stopped. Stupid traffic. Stupid street interrupting my long, straight, flat, dirt canal. ***cue Frogger music*** and I'm off again.

4min easy run - 1 min walk x 4

short, simple, the end of my running hiatus!

My left knee was a little irritable, frustrating since I haven't ran in over a month. My left hip popped quite loudly while I was stretching when I got home. It actually felt good, like it relieved some pressure. I need to reschedule with the sports therapist (that went to the wayside along with everything else in my life the past few weeks).

My running plan right now is simply to start low, go slow, and build to a therapeutic level (it's the nursing way in elderly-ville). More specifically my running plan includes:
1. run 3-4 x week
2. cross train on bike or elliptical 1-2x week
3. stretch 5-7x week
4. start logging at least 1 of my runs/week on the treadmill since triple digit weather is nearing upon us and history tells that I usually stop running altogether in the summer due to this
5. try out this running group that one of the volunteers at work has been inviting me to every week during my hiatus

Haven't posted this week because I was waiting to break the hiatus. Also I had to work wed and thur at my new job orienting 11 am -11pm. The worst shift ever. I would rather work 7p-7a any day of the week.

I'm also gearing up for the start of my Pilates instructor program. I am thinking that once it starts I will take one day a week and post about a Pilates subject (exercise, history, philosophy).

I did some work in my garden today. WEEDS! GRASSHOPPERS! I restaked some of my tomato plants. I replanted some watermelon, okra, and cantaloupe. I think the first seeds I put out the ground was not quite warm enough for them to take. I don't think it will matter though because as you can see my pumpkin plants may take over my whole garden soon anyways. Linus would be so happy!

Exhausted

2009-04-10T21:07:00.001-07:00

I did not leave the blog world, only my computer. After being sick last week and working all weekend I was planning on getting back on track and schedule this week, however when I got off work Monday morning I had a message that my grandpa had emergency surgery for a ruptured aneurysm. Tuesday morning I hopped a plane to Texas via Denver? to be with my grandpa. I just returned home today, exhausted from spending the week in the hospital (so weird to be the family and not the nurse). My grandpa is doing good for having gone through what he did. I got to see A LOT of my family which is always good. My grandparents have 8 kids, 22 grandkids, and 14 great grandkids (I think another 1 or 2 on the way). My previous reference to John Wayne was while I was thinking of my grandpa. My grandpa is truly one of those last real American cowboys.

Upon returning home I realized what month and day it is and finally faced up to my taxxacre sending in my state payment and doing the unthinkable of making a deal with the devil (aka irs) to pay off my federal in payments. ***again I vomited a little in my mouth***

The Cowboys

2009-04-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

Favorite John Wayne flick

MY BODY HATES ME

2009-04-02T05:09:00.000-07:00

Do I blame it? No.

Let's rewind one month to a little 33 hour race. http://idlenessidealness.blogspot.com/2009/03/run-drive-sleep-repeat.html

I am going to tell you a story of a girl and her body. Now the girl's body told her "NO" prior to the race by coming up with some lame sinus infection. She ignored the warning, popped some antibiotics and told her body, "We can do this." Her body responded after the first leg, "blah" (all over the van floor remember). Now during this little squabble between the girl and her body were some uninvited guests "Mr and Mrs. Germinator". Now Mr. and Mrs. Germinator took note of the ongoing battle between the girl and her body and decided that due to the war among the land they could sneak in and start a little family. Fast forward after the race and the girl now willing to listen to her body finished off the antibiotics. These antibiotics were too much for Mr. and Mrs. Germinator and sadly they passed, BUT not before they had started their little family. Now because the kids of Mr. and Mrs. Germinator were exposed to these antibiotics in their young stages some died. The ones that didn't were the strong. Throughout the next few weeks the strong Germinator kids grew up and had families themselves. Back in the homeland the girl and her body continued to fight. The girl attempted to take care of her body and thought it was getting better. So once again she pushed the body making it work multiple days in a row and depriving it of its recovery sleep flipping from days to nights back to days. The new Germinators with their families decided that where they were living was too small for all their new kids and set out to conquer more land and as the girl and her body were in turmoil still they felt it the perfect time. The Germinators were already living in the sinuses barrio, some ventured out and took up roots in the ear, others the wildest of the bunch moved down into the throat. The girl had lost her fight. The body was now being overran by the Germinators and was letting the girl know just how mad it was about this by shooting pain and fever all over. The girl is now making one last attempt to save her body and once again be in a state of balance. A stronger antibiotic is being taken and the girl is letting her body rest as much as it can for as long as it needs. STAY TUNED TO SEE IF OUR GIRL WINS BACK HER BODY!

oK with that being said here are some updated pics of what is going on outside!

PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS IN BLOOM - DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO GET RID OF THE WHITE PATCHES ON IT I BELIEVE IT IS A FUNGUS

ROSES ABOUT TO BLOOM

OKRA FINALLY COMING UP

ZUCCHINI STARTING TO FLOWER

GREEN ONIONS!

CARROTS!

CORN - ABOUT TIME TO SPACE OUT

PUMPKINS- JACK-O-LANTERNS, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN ROLLS, PUMPKIN COOKIES, PUMPKIN BREAD, PUMPKIN PORTER (OK I WILL LEAVE THAT UP TO THE BREW MASTERS)

I'm alive.....

2009-03-31T20:34:00.000-07:00

BARELY! This past weekend has kicked my ass. My diet has been crap. I guess I figured if I wasn't getting sleep, I should at least get food. My allergies are back, my nose is once again a faucet. I haven't worked out in over a week (as if I've had time). Saturday someone thought it would be awesome to put speed walls (I mean bumps) in the parking garage. Sunday night I walked into a bomb threat at work (thanks for letting me know prior to clocking in). Monday I became a blessed healer. And tonight my Barnacle Bo had a sudden onset of pain while eating and now he can't eat or open his mouth all the way?!? Anyways, tomorrow is a small respite in this crazy two week schedule of mine (although now may end up with a trip to the vet). Then I work thur,fri,sat, and sun! I am missing my torture sessions this week due to my schedule again (that's 2 weeks in a row, boo!).

On the positive side **my okra finally bloomed up**

I think I will try and go for a run tomorrow, maybe that will drain my sinuses!

I can't wait for next week when my schedule gets back to norm!

Dear Mother Nature,

2009-03-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

If I wanted it to be windy all day long I would move back to Kansas!

Ok so did I mention that I am working 60+ hours this week and 60+ hours next week? I have done nothing besides my pilates and some stretching this week, : ( After next week I will be done with this orientation stuff and my part time job will finally be just that PART TIME!!! So I am going to warn my lovely 2 readers now that I will be M.I.A. until at least Tuesday of next week if not longer due to 2 ultras I will be partaking in this weekend. No, not running ultras which actually sounds more appealing than the following:

Fri 0800-1700 orient to new unit......1900-0700 work....... yes that is 20 hours of work in a 24 hour awake period!

Sat 1900-0700 work (what just 12 hours?)

Sun 1900-0700 work..........0800-1700 cultural competency training..........again 20 in 24......I doubt I will be competent in anything at this point!

Good thing I won a gift card to Starbucks this week! oh wait that would entail having time to go to Starbucks (screw it). My circadian rhythm will be begging for mercy when I get done with it! Take that sleep pattern, up yours! If you are reading this, please send dark chocolate espresso beans to me. On the up side, I do work in the er and should I happen to die they have all the appropriate paperwork to fill out!

She didn't have her v8 today!

2009-03-24T21:50:00.001-07:00

PIC: JOSEPH AND CLARA PILATES

"I must be right. Never an aspirin. Never injured a day in my life. The whole country, the whole world, should be doing my exercises. They'd be happier."- Joseph Hubertus Pilates, in 1965, age 86

Since my sports massage got cancelled for this evening and I am missing my two hours of trainer torture this week I took the opportunity to hit up a late pilates class. I have been going to the same studio for about 2 years now I think but tonight the teacher was someone that I have not taken class from before and therefore she didn't know me or any of my recent issues going on. I love my pilates workouts because they are challenging to my core and because I am able to be so focused while doing it, it is almost like an hour of meditation for me. One of my biggest challenges that I get cued on and that I also catch myself doing is letting my shoulders ride up. Despite that the teacher tonight did comment that I have good form, but! but! said that my left side definitely tries to work harder than my right. For someone to pick that up and didn't know that I've been having extreeeeeme tightness in my left side.......I must look like I need a v8!

Sign of the times.

2009-03-23T19:54:00.000-07:00

So today I went to the first day of my orientation for my part time job at another hospital. I have sat through many of hospital orientations and always before (because the nursing profession had such a shortage) the whole first day you would hear how great it was that you (the nurse) had chose them (the hospital) to work for. Today though it was a different story. All we heard was how lucky we were that they chose us to work there. Don't get me wrong I know I am very lucky to not only have one job (with benefits) but now to have another job for extra hours........On the other hand, I am a nurse........my job is not going to be outsourced.........my profession is still largely populated with nurses of or nearing retiring age even if they do decide to put in a few extra years before the final vacation. Just another sign of the times that I pondered during my 8 hours of boring orientation. Good grief Charlie Brown : <

I give myself a D-

2009-03-22T20:00:00.001-07:00

Man I get a D- for blogging the past few days! Fast Recap:

Workouts - Friday 1 hour torture w/ the trainer.......I would post the workout but I was so foggy headed from my allergies that I didn't even remember all it entailed by the time I got home.
Sat - I attempted to go to my Pilates class, but got stuck in road construction ended up way late and missed it then I went home and got lazy and slept before I had to work sat night : (
Sun - woke up this afternoon did 60 min P90 stretch (trying to work in more pilates and stretching) then went and biked around Tempe Town Lake with my friend. Man was it windy!!!! Quite unusual for the Valley of the Sun so it turned out to be a bit of a resistance workout mixed in with some small hills and then some flat straights with the wind at our back - weeee...........

(insert pics of Tempe Town Lake which I failed to take!)

After we went and ate at local bar/grill and sat on patio. I had a larger cobb salad with Gorgonzola cheese on it! My friend had a chicken pecan salad that came with this mango dressing? tasted almost like a foofoo alcoholic drink. It was weird but in a good, intriguing way!

(insert pic of sweet old jeep commander that I saw in the parking lot! again that I failed to take).

Running hiatus update - I met with the sports chiropractor and massage therapist on Friday; apparently the root of my problems is my right S/I joint (causing my it irritation on the left). My ass is so sore from the massage therapist!!!! but even after 60 min I was still too tight for the chiropractor to adjust me! I have to go back on Tuesday again. On a plus note my health insurance is totally covering both with only a small copay! The doc said to lay off running one more week since we are incorporating new therapy, but thinks he can get me going again here shortly : ) I am thinking maybe a short run end of this week as a trial depending on how Tuesday goes! I have been plotting and planning how to build my base again SLLOOWLYYY! so I don't run into more problems.

Garden update - pumpkin and corn growing like crazy! tomato, pepper, and strawberry plants have pretty flowery blooms on them! carrots and green onions making some headway! lettuce accounted for. watermelon, cantaloupe, and okra seeds not sprouting : < ?

(insert updated garden pics here, actually I was planning on doing these later this week)

Finally, so much for my 2 day workweek (boo me, yeah checkbook!) Starting tomorrow I have some busy weeks ahead. I have hospital orientation for my new part time job (m-f 8-5) this week. What brain cells the pollen didn't kill last week will be numbed into a coma during this. Do you know how painful this is for me? A. I work nights so 8-5 ouch! B. I am a nurse in an er, sitting in a chair for 8 hours ouch! Anyways, then because that is my second job I have still have to put in my night shifts next weekend........and then I am back to a cultural competency day and computer training day the next week (for both jobs). I will be glad when I go back to just having to do my shifts!!!!! Because of the working day things I am going to miss going to my trainer this week (boo!); so I will see what other stuff I can get in for training during the week.

Coming soon.........

I am starting my Pilate's instructor training program at the end of April so I will be posting more about Pilate's and the teachings of Joseph Pilate as well as my progress in this endeavor. I know the yoga classes are very popular out there in blog land, but do any of you take or have tried pilates? What are your thoughts on it?

Someone turn this faucet off otherwise known as my nose!

2009-03-19T18:46:00.000-07:00

I am just getting hammered with the allergies and sinus problems this year! I blame my running hiatus as I believe that when I am regularly running I drain all the bad stuff out of my nose during the run. As for the neti pot that everyone has raved and raved about to me.......I have yet to feel it's healing powers and in fact feel worse after using it. I am currently cracked out on sudafed which has successfully dried everything out but my nose.

Tomorrow I am going to the sports massage therapist and the sports chiropractor. Hopefully after my adjustment and some adhesion work I can end this hiatus. Next week will begin week 4 of not running. My plan was not to run for 4 weeks to give my leg time to heal. I may try to do some short 2-3 milers next week as I really miss it. My missing it so much has led me to do hours and hours of research on ultra running. The thought of actually completing a 50-100 mile race (by yourself) is intriguing. But first, building my base back up slowly so I don't continue to have problems with my knees/hips/it bands.

SUPERSETS, SINUSES, AND SPORTS MASSAGES

2009-03-18T12:49:00.001-07:00

Superset circuit.....

pull ups 8 reps

reverse flies with 5lb wts on bosu 15 reps

leg press 8 reps (I am really bad about looking to see how much wt is on machines as my trainer does it)

single leg squat touchdown w/ 10lbs 10 reps/per leg

incline press 8 reps (again see above)

decline push ups (feet on bench) 15 reps

forward fall hamstring curls on airex 8 reps

split (like jumping jack over step) jumps on step (3 levels) 15 reps fast

repeat circuit 4x w/ 2 minute rest in between

abs before and wall sit to end

That was my torture session for today (although it wouldn't have been so bad had my sinuses/allergies not been slowly decaying my brain........so after my torture I went shopping and bought a neti pot (finally). I've always just flushed my sinuses with the saline Ocean spray and thought this was the same. And now that I have the neti pot I know that it is not the same. However, I will hold my review on this product after I have tried it a few times as I do not think you are suppose to get immediate relief from one use. (if you are it doesn't work and thats my review)! Finally, these images have somehow found there way to me not once but twice this week and so I will share this link as a WHAT YOUR ONLINE FOOD DIARY SHOULD NOT LOOK LIKE!!!! My gallbladder is contracting just looking at this!

http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/

Oh yeah, I went to sports chiropractor today. I only had an initial assessment done where he measured my insteps, had me do some overhead squats, step over a hurdle thing, checked my ankle flexibility, checked my core strength, and pushed on some of my joints and found one spot on my left hip that almost made me jump of the table! (hmmm could this be the root of my it problem?) Overall he said my r hip joint is tight and tilts somewhat causing that leg to be shorter however he was able to push on that joint and my legs evened out ruling out that one leg is shorter than another. He said my strength and flexibility scores were high which was a good sign that with an adjustment after a few sessions with a sports massage therapist (to do some work on that spot on my left hip and some other areas of tightness) I should be good to go! That's good news. I am currently in week 3 of my running hiatus and missing it. I go to the massage therapist on Friday which I am expecting to be somewhat painful!

My Little Leprechaun!

2009-03-17T18:47:00.001-07:00

Calling all adventurers, triathletes, and runners!

2009-03-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

This was posted at active.com and I received an email about it so I thought I would share it. I don't have that many races scheduled for the year but if I did this would be very cool to look into!

**********
Team Bear Naked is a closely-knit band of adventurers who are astonished by the variety and splendor Mother Nature unfurls. We’re extending an invitation for the world to share in our discoveries… A call to simply live life… to live Bear Naked™. We know that you, your friends, training partners or colleagues may be a perfect fit for Team Bear Naked 2009! Read below for more details and be sure to share the love (forward this email) to anyone else who may be a fit for Team Bear Naked 2009. Bear Naked will sponsor 110 triathletes, runners and cyclists across the U.S. this year. Selected athletes will have at least six races on their 2009 event calendar, a proven passion for their sport, and a love of spreading the word on training tips and brands they believe in. What Bear Naked Wants:
Male and Female triathletes, runners and cyclists with at least six events on their 2009 race schedule
Athletes who value nutrition as an integral part of their training regimen
Brand Ambassadors to help spread the word on how tasty Bear Nakedproducts are
People who Live Bear Naked™ - outgoing individuals who will positively promote Bear Naked products to peers, family and friends

************
Here is the link for the application!

http://amgteams.activecm.net/Page455.aspx

aNd! and the Beanstalk

2009-03-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

Guess what that is????? If you guessed beanstalk you are wrong, but if you dream of jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin porter then you are correct! PUMPKINS!!!! When I went to water my garden today I noticed these two guys emerging from the little mound I planted them in last Friday (only 7 days ago!) I forgot to post pics of my garden newly planted so here is the rundown of what I have planted.

Tomatoes - early bush, yellow, and cherry tomato plants (too late to start from seed)

Peppers - green bell, red, jalapeno plants

Zucchini - plants because they didn't have any seeds and I really wanted zucchini!

Watermelon

Cantaloupe

Pumpkins

Sweet Corn - will need to space these out more after they sprout and get bigger

Green onions

Carrots

Okra - yummy!

Strawberries - small plants, potted in a strawberry planter I already had (we'll see)!

This morning I had an unusually early appointment for my training torture. 60 minutes that included some medicine ball passes, bench step-ups, pull downs w/ airex pad, cable fly, some jumps or squat things, skull crushers, bicep curls, knee raises, reverse incline sit ups, single leg wall sits, some other stuff I was probably sleeping while doing, and to top it off a "great" core exercise we call up-up-down-down.......start in a plank position on your elbows then for a minute you push up on to your right hand then left then down onto right elbow then left. Switch which arm you lead with at about 30 seconds or alternate the entire time. Either way it sucks, lol! I spent the afternoon visiting my two favorite people under the age of 3! side note for JoyRun....apparently my nephew will only go pee in the toilet if he is running around in his underwear, somehow wearing shorts over the underwear seems to take too much time out of playing when he has to go and therefore he just pees his pants! Anyhow, no cardio or yoga today :( I am planning on getting both done in the morning then back to the grind of my two day work week. Better live it up while it lasts though I am scheduled to start my new part time job soon which will mean consistently working a 3 or 4 day workweek (my bank will surely appreciate this as will Uncle Sam when he gets his payment)!

Daily dose of Vitamin D....under my layer of spf 50!

2009-03-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

Somehow I convinced my *very sore* friend to go hiking with me today. I had my camera with me just in case we ran into any snakes, but of course because I was with someone else we didn't. If I would have went by myself I probably would have come upon 2 or 3 rattlesnakes in the parking lot! We hiked the National-Mormon Loop in South Mountain Preserve - total 6 miles with total elevation gain of I think around 700 feet. One of these days I will be cool and own a garmin! It was super sunny out and getting pretty warm by the time I got around to going at 11 this morning. This evening I foam rolled my legs and did my 3rd day in a row of the yoga for runners. I am liking this 20 minutes yoga session........it feels good except for one pose where you lay on your shoulder? I am just going to start skipping that one. Last night my boyfriend went to the store for dog food and came back with these!

If you look closely you can see the orchid he got me for Valentine's Day!

I LOVE having fresh flowers on the table, but cut flowers don't last so it is very cool that I get actual planted flowers! Last year I got my mom a mini rose bush for Mother's Day. She kept it inside for the winter (she lives where that white stuff falls and the thermometer actually goes below the freezing point).....she has had roses blooming all winter!

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!

2009-03-11T18:46:00.000-07:00

When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the earth down.

That's right Chuck is 69! Happy belated Birthday!

Ok, moving on......

First, my friend that is a travel nurse is back home. She's has been traveling for about 4 years now and so despite visiting her in some cool places along the way it will be nice to hang out again! Today I convinced her to go to my trainer with me to check it out. Hmmm......yeah she may hate me now, lol!

After our training session (60 min) my friend dropped me at home and I was looking for a way to get my cardio in (she wasn't up for staying and doing some elliptical......lol). My knees were still hurting today when I was doing backward lunges letting me know that yes it is still too early to run again. Soooo, out came the P90X Kenpo X video. Has anyone else out there P90'd? As a mini review it will definitely tone you up... I did my 90 days..... and will occasionally pop in a video but overall I get bored doing the same thing which is why I love my trainer and prefer to do my cardio outside! The Kenpo video is good and definitely gets your heart rate up. I did 60 minutes of kenpo and then finished off with my 20 minute yoga for runners video that I posted about yesterday.

On a sad note we said goodbye to our snowbirds today, they are headed to Cali for a few weeks then on up to the home state of Washington. This was the 2nd year they were down here for part of the winter. It is always fun having them here to ride bikes, hike, day trip, and bbq with!

Help I am being attacked!

2009-03-10T17:33:00.000-07:00

The citrus blooms are eating away at my brain!

*****I would insert a picture here of the citrus tree in my neighbor's yard that is one of the culprits eating away at my brain, but that would require that I go back out into that sweet fog that clouded my head earlier today and is responsible for the 2 hour nap/allergy coma I just got up from*****

Anyhow, I was planning to take a bike ride later today.....not sure if that is going to be happening. I am still on my running hiatus trying to see if I can calm these IT band and knee issues down. This morning in an attempt to do just that I did this 20 minute yoga session and my goal is to do it or another yoga class at least 4x this week. I liked this series as it helped to stretch areas that I am always tight!

http://www.break.com/usercontent/2008/11/Episode-144-Yoga-for-Runners-610626.html

Anyone else have any ideas besides not running on how to calm these legs of mine? What kind of cross training/cardio do you do besides running?

Lastly, WELCOME JOYRUN!

Stay Tuned

2009-03-09T21:33:00.000-07:00

Currently experiencing technical difficulties..........12 hour night shifts. Will return to the regular scheduled programming tomorrow!

TO AGRITOPIA AND BACK......

2009-03-05T18:54:00.000-08:00

Finally, I got to go to Joe's Farm Grill

http://www.joesfarmgrill.com/

This place is great! First of all they grow almost all of their food onsite or use local stuff (beef, dairy, etc). I am still using my camera phone so not the best picture but I had the Ahi Tuna Sandwich with sweet potato fries! THE BEST SWEET POTATO FRIES!!!!!! The Ahi Tuna was good and I really liked the Asian Coleslaw on the sandwich! Note the pickles (awesome, also they make their own pickles)!!! The place itself includes the grill, a coffee shop, self-serve produce stand, the farm (of course, duh), and get this......a vespa service station (how freakin awesome is that! I looked like an old garage but vespa size, lol!

Still icing my knees from Ragnar (and maybe a little from the bike ride yesterday). Back to the grind it was today though. 60min of trainer torture and then I did 30min on the elliptical (ugh, I hate doing my cardio indoors!) I also made it over the the nursery to pick up some stuff for my garden which I am going to try and plant over the next week! I got a new camera battery so with some adequate charging overnight it will be good to go!

Finally, I tried this recipe from Kath http://www.katheats.com/favorite-foods/chocolate-walnut-banana-bread/ it turned out great. I did make a few changes because I only had w.w. flour not w.w. pastry flour I actually used 1.5 cups w.w. flour and then .5 cup wheat germ and I had one extra overripe banana that I used as well. This turned out sooooo moist (but not too moist) and sweet! Thanks Kath. Speaking of baked goodies, check out this giveaway for personalized baking tags. What a great idea!

http://www.megansmunchies.com/2009/03/personalized-baking-tags-giveaway.html

****one last note on Joe's Farm Grill......I hope the Ahi Tuna is not local, I mean where would it come from the canals? Yikes!******

Big nutrition, small stools?

2009-03-04T14:45:00.000-08:00

Did I mention that my camera battery totally went dead on the first leg of Ragnar, it won't hold a charge at all now so I am going to have to buy a new battery. Anyways, today we headed out to one of the local regional parks for some "mountain" biking. We ended up doing a 10 - 12 mile single track desert trail with some good pulls here and there, but make no mistake I am not cranking up anything so hence the quotations around "mountain". Beautiful views, wish I had my camera.....the wildflowers are just starting to bloom and for the desert it is very green right now. HOWEVER, along with fun wildflowers/warm weather/and green deserts come snakes! So I was the tail end of our 3 person group by a ways because I don't like "flying" on the downs because I know myself and know that me crashing into a cactus would not be good. Luckily, I avoided crashing into any cactus or doing a headie right onto a nice sharp rock but as I was making my way through a narrower part of the trail (a little down/up) I must have come a little to close to a bush that a nice rattlesnake was sleeping under. Right as my right ankle was on the down pedal I heard a distinctive sound just next to it (my heart dropped into my pants although at the time I didn't realize it was my heart) Did the snake strike at me? I am not positive on that, but 1. I am positive that it was a rattlesnake 2. I am positive it was too close for comfort to me as I was to it (you know how when something goes by you so close even though it doesn't actually come in physical contact with your skin you can feel it?) THAT CLOSE!!!!! too bad I didn't have a heart rate monitor on because I think I flipped into SVT, possibly a run of V-TACH. Needless to say I pedaled so fast without looking back (afraid I was going to crash and get swallowed whole by it). As I caught up to the other 2 in my group and told them what happened I got the "uh huh, sure" . Later they said they believed me, but I don't think they really do, lol!

Oh on the way out to the park as I was driving I pulled up behind this truck.....the pic is a little out of focus (from my phone) so I typed out what the truck had wrote on it. I guess it was some type of organic dog food, but the truck was funny!

and speaking of big nutrition.....one of my favorite foods ever is cereal. We've all seen the different websites you can make your own protein bars, etc. Here is a giveaway to "make your own cereal"......HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!!!!

http://healthingit.com/2009/03/03/the-new-healthingit-first-giveaway/

FAMILY ADVENTURE

2009-03-03T19:29:00.000-08:00

So because I am apparently still coming down from my Ragnar High and we all know that is a very dangerous time when one is coming down from a post-race event. For example after my finishing my first marathon I was at such a loss of what to do and felt so strong I joined rollerderby

While this was great fun for a few years, I stopped playing rollerderby before getting any major injuries or going into liver failure from all the whiskey I was drinking to fuel my anger, lol.

So today, in my post event high looking for something fun to do I decided that I would try and recruit my family to do a RAGNAR RELAY. I have lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins and it would be fun kinda like an adventure family reunion....so I send out this email to a bulk of my cousins and aunt/uncles.

"Ok so this past weekend my mom came down to AZ and ran a relay race with me.....we had soooo much fun. They are doing one in Texas in October it runs from San Antonio to Austin. Here is the website

www.ragnarrelay.com

then choose Texas to read more about it! Anyways, I know it sounds crazy, but even if you are not a runner they have a training plan to train for it which actually starts in June, but with some prep work starting now would really be doable by October. I told my mom that it would be fun if we could get 12 family members to do it together! Just throwing it out there, basically it could be some quality family time (2 days running, sweating, and laughing in a van).

I promise you and anyone else in our family who wants to do it can do it, I will send you weekly training plans....I trained my mom to do a 1/2 marathon and the ragnar relay in AZ which is longer than the one in Texas!"

Here is the first response I got back.....from one of my male cousins (year older than me, straight-laced family man type)

"Are you sure you have the right email address, I was thinking more along the lines of renting a van, buying a keg, and driving across Texas sounded like fun. We could drive slow and laugh at everyone baking in the sun while we turned the AC up. Either that or we could rent a 4 door, convertible white Cadillac, era 1970’s, buy a case of Jack, a bag o pot and just see what the hell happens, its just a thought and I’m just throwing it out there. Anyway, its good to hear that you both survived the race, mostly (my mom), I’m impressed with that one. Let me know if you come up with any family events that don’t involve sadomasochism."

Getting this team together may be harder than any derby hit I took! Better break out the Jack, lol (not really)

Running Gu

2009-03-02T18:25:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot this, but while catching up on other blogs (http://delusionsofotherpeoplesgrandeur.blogspot.com/) it reminded me. Saturday after we crawled our asses back to the house we unpacked the vans onto the kitchen counter and crashed. Sunday morning we went to take the vans back to the rental place and while we were gone Barnacle Bo and Squidney decided to do some unpacking of their own. By the time we got home they had ate 5-7 clif bars and 1/2 bag of chex mix, but left 7 running gu's completely unopened spread throughout the house. Even dogs know that running gu's are gross, lol!

LET'S HEAR IT FOR GRACIE O.

2009-03-02T17:44:00.000-08:00

YOU ARE OFFICIALLY MY FIRST....FOLLOWER THAT IS! and because I am such a fan of yours please email or facebook me your snailmail address and you will get a surprise from muah!

Also check out this giveaway I ran across, yum!!!!

http://www.onefrugalfoodie.com/2009/03/01/gigantic-giveaway-cookies-brownies-granola/comment-page-10/#comment-6287

RUN, DRIVE, SLEEP, REPEAT.

2009-03-02T16:08:00.000-08:00

Ok so I didn't drive, but I did puke in the van! Can I just say how much freakin' fun this race was, despite my raging sinus infection (maybe the lack of sleep and drugs have seduced me into thinking it was more fun than it actually was). Anyways, I have to say that I have not had a post event high like this since my first marathon! I am already planning my team for next year's DEL SOL event and would love to do a team for Texas and LA! So here is a rundown of how my weekend went.

Friday - Breakfast - oatmeal w/ banana, huckleberries, and almonds
0930 am - leave for our exchange
snacked on handful of wheatthins

LEG 1 - sometime around 5pm, 8.5 miles, dirt road, support vans making
sure I filled at least the lower lobes of my lungs with some good AZ dirt,
one giant rock painted as a skull (kind of an ominous sign, but whatever
right) Here is a fun t-shirt from one of the other teams that says it all!

So for having a sinus infection that leg was not bad, super dry air though and I barely had a voice when I was done. I ran my 8.5 miles in around 80 minutes which is good for me especially since I was sick. Here is a picture of me during my first leg, not bad at least I look like I have a forward motion!

Ok back to the rundown:

7pm ish we hit up the next exchange with our Van 1 again and off for us to get a little rest, but first I felt the need to puke all over the van floor (oops #2)! Must have been the combination of antibiotics in my system and the liquid intake, lol. On a side note, if you ever decide to do a race like this always handy to invite a doctor or two to be your teammates! Luckily I am smart like this and my teammate hooked me up with some antinausea medication and I somehow managed to doze off in the van for about 1 hour and keep 1/2 a bagel with some peanut butter down, weeee!

LEG 2 - sometime around 5am Saturday, 6.5 miles the first 2 of which were into +30
mph crosswind and then another 4 miles of slow, steady uphill. I am not
going to lie at this point I was sucking, my knees hurt, and I was cussing
(under my breath) all the elite runners sprinting past me telling me "good
job" (the started the race 8 hours after us, lol). Oh tip for anyone
running a night leg and trying to wear a headlamp....wear a hat or visor
with a bill to hold it in place....my team did this, I did not, I fought
with that stupid headlamp the whole 6.5 miles because it kept slipping down
my sweaty forehead.

Ok on to the next exchange but first breakfast, I was literally running on empty and oddly enough the teams consensus was for mcdonalds, lol. I opted for the sausage mcmuffin with cheese, no egg, and a small coke (I was choosing my food choices by what wouldn't be extremely disgusting coming back up!) Oh yeah I almost forgot I had 1/2 a cinnamon roll at the exchange site right before mcd's (in the spirit of JOYRUN, trying to fuel my run with sugar)!

LEG #3 - 4:30 pm Sat, +85 degrees, full AZ sun, 3 miles, lots of sunscreen! Oh did
I mention that I haven't showered since Friday morning, apparently someone
thought I was stinking and felt the need to give me a shower during my last
leg of the race!

Totals for the race:
18 miles running
1 hour of sleep
2 episodes of emesis (back to back)
1 cool medal that doubles as a bottle opener (sweeeet!)
2 potential knee replacements (not really, but I am taking a few weeks off to rehab)
32 hours of non stop fun!
213 teams
426 vans!

Did I mention this race is fun???????

Nyquil take me away!

2009-02-24T18:17:00.000-08:00

Ughh, I'm sick. My head may explode. My ears may burst. My throat may start bleeding. My nose should just be removed altogether. I have slept since getting off work on Monday morning (now tuesday night). Waking only to eat, drink, and gargle warm salt water.....Of all the weeks to be sick this is not the one. Ragnar starts on Friday......this is not going to be good!

In my mind I'm a B-Girl.....that doesn't translate at all!

2009-02-20T17:25:00.000-08:00

CHECK OUT THE HEAD SPIN AT THE END OF THIS DANCE! WOW!

MTV Shows

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary How Does Your Garden Grow??

2009-02-19T20:36:00.000-08:00

Today was very productive.

I am starting a garden, today was mostly ground work. Apparently desert soil is not the best to grow things in so there is some prep work to be done, but that's ok I had lots of help today!

Next, I rode my bike to my workout (3miles), worked out with my trainer as I do 2x week, then rode home. I finished up some ground work then headed to team captain meeting for the Ragnar Relay which is 7 days away! I was scared about this race coming up so soon because I have not trained like I wanted to because I keep having flair-ups of this left IT band stemming from my rollerskating crash before Christmas........I am past being scared and pretty much just laugh at the mere thought of it now. I foresee a lot of pain, crying, crawling, laughing, etc.....and of course pics to document my monumental torture!

I had an egg white and veggie omelet this morning with a broccoli pancake; it didn't hold me over at all like my oatmeal does. I recently bought some oat bran so I am thinking of trying it tomorrow am. Speaking of tomorrow.....more gardening, light run, and oh I forgot to update you on my interview earlier this week.......that is because when I showed up to the interview it had been cancelled only no one felt the need to notify me of the cancellation and need to reschedule; I am less than impressed with the company and have not called back to reschedule the interview. I did however get a call about another short term assignment that looks promising and hope to hear some more on it tomorrow! Here are some pics of my little garden helpers! "Barnacle Bo", "Squidney", and "Kirb the Burb" our own little snowbird house guest! And finally, let me just say I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR IN AZ!!!!! so, so, so beautiful today!

Tombstones and Poems

2009-02-18T19:20:00.000-08:00

Wild, Wild, West? oh yes!

Today we decided to get away from the circus in my back yard and head south to the wild, wild west. One thing I love is anything having to do with the wild west, wagon trains, frontier settlers, bad ass outlaws, roughneck ranchers........ahhh I truly was born in the wrong century! Anyways, back to today.

Destination: Tombstone, AZ

Review: Cheesy tourist trap as I thought it would be

Disappointment of the day: making our way over to Kartchner Caverns only to be told it was already sold out for the day (who knew you had to make reservations on a weekday???, damn snowbirds!) which also took us back a different way therefore I missed stopping at the pecan grove farmer's market stand on the road we took there : (

Lesson of the day: ugh, this one I am still not happy about........so I ate a nice bowl of oatmeal for breakfast (6am, remember I woke up at 3), a power bar at about 11 on the way, and then the tourist trap sucked me in.......while I feel good about avoiding the 10 fudge shops and salt water taffy in the 2 block downtown area

(side note why do all tourist traps have homemade fudge shops and salt water taffy?

the fudge shops ok, but salt water taffy? it's the desert!!!!! no ocean! no saltwater!)

.....we ate lunch at a small cafe which had the look of a promising home cooked meal in a small town......the menu was a pitfall for bad eating!......and I saw the salad that came out to the table next to me (yellow iceberg) but wait what is this I see a homemade garden burger.......ok that may be ok, then set in my being tired and traveling and I ordered the fries with it. The garden burger tasted like some shredded carrots and zucchini mixed up and fried together (a little sweet and without a base, ugh). I only ate half my fries which at the time tasted pretty good, but immediately I knew it was not making me feel good! To get you caught up....January 1st I started trying to eat healthy, real food. Minus a small box of chocolates and french toast on Valentine's Day and half of a chicken fried steak, cinnamon roll, and slice of carrot cake on my Birthday last month which btw I also ran a 1/2 marathon the same day I have pretty much stuck to my guns as far as eating no junk food, no fried food, nothing but lean protein, vegetables, nuts, fruit, and whole grains! The whole way home I felt that taste of grease in my mouth and felt blah......I was craving fresh, fresh, fresh. By the time I got home I fixed up a smorgasbord of salad, fixins, leftover smoked chicken, hummus, and fresh peppers! They say that once you do something for 30 days it starts to become a habit or way of life. I am happy to say that despite my poor choice today it has taught me that french fries don't really agree with me anymore!

The Circus is Coming!

2009-02-16T10:38:00.000-08:00

First let me preface by saying that I am running on very little sleep as I worked the past two nights as I always do on Sat/Sun. Saturday ended up being a 24 hour no sleeper as sometimes happens on your first nightshift back. This morning after work I came and ended up having to take my dog to the vet this morning to have a mole turned cyst like thing removed. Barnacle Bo is 77 yrs old and I swear has all the traits of old man.....snores, farts a lot!, weird moley skin things always popping up..........

On to the Circus.....yes the circus is coming to my own backyard! This morning my quiet little street was alined with cars and people buzzing around, what's this I say, a kick ass garage sale on President's Day???? ummm.....no, it is the President himself causing this little hoopla in my hood. Free tickets this morning being handed out to the first 300-400 people in line for the chance to hear how the stimulus will prevent me from losing another neighbor.

overnight camping fee front yard only- $100/night
day camping fee - $50/day (no open fires or glass bottles allowed in the yard)
parking an additional $100 for driveway, for $500 I will valet your car and park it in my garage!

Now, there is stimulus for me! Anyways, I have an interview later today for a second job. Not sure what the job is, will let you know how it goes though. Unfortunately, I have no kids.....I did not lose my house to foreclosure nor am I at risk for that, I did not lose my job, I did not lose my health care coverage, I was not a first time home buyer in the past year, I am not some irresponsible large corporation with trips to vegas, big private jets, blinged out suv's, or remodeled offices......and I only got $13 from the last stimulus bill because of my annual income......I will not be getting any of the trillion dollar economic stimulus......in fact if you remember my recent taxxacre I will only be contributing to those listed above (if I get that second job, lol).

Time for some zzzz's before my interview!

Stressed....Blessed......

2009-02-13T18:13:00.000-08:00

Never have I planned something, gotten to the day realized it was Friday the 13th and wish I had done it on another day.........until today

then again it wouldn't matter what day I did my taxes on this year the outcome would inevitably result in me vomiting a little in my mouth while holding back the tears so as not to have the tax lady calling the mental health crisis line for me!!!! All I can say is wow, I got f%#*!@ the day before Valentine's only this was not a CHEAP DATE.......can you say extension, payment plan, anything.....

It all comes down to this.....somehow (and one can only begin to wonder how) my withholding got changed to 3 vs 0 so for half the year my company was only holding out nearly nothing! Because I work different number of hours each pay period (picking up extra shifts and whatnot) I didn't realize that my check was that different. And I am taking responsibility for my part of not checking my paystub diligently (I already have to make sure they get the number of hours correct and pay out overtime correctly, both of which I have had issues with also this year). Ugghhhh.......ok so that would be the stressed part which brought me to my pity party which led me to my feeling blessed.

1. I am healthy
2. My family and loved ones are healthy
3. I have a job
4. I have a home

Ok so on to the rest of my day (although, I will say that the taxxacre happened at lunch and I was in shock on the couch for a good few hours after that).

I cancelled my gym membership......????? What's that you say, let's not get drastic! It's ok, it was my gym that I never go to (not that I don't go to the gym). My trainer works at a small gym and since I get training sessions there I work out there and they don't have a monthly fee, but for some reason I have still been paying my old gym monthly. I've been avoiding cancelling it because you either have to go in and sign a form (while getting a sales pitchy lecture "Baby come back" mop song from some cocky gym managerial type) or send a registered letter (which involves going to post office and then standing in said post office line). I finally opted to suck it up and go with the mop song. I think the guy actually got mad when he asked why I was leaving and I said because I followed my trainer (who use to work there) to smaller gym. Think of all the money I will be saving......and then sending to UNCLE SAM!

I avoided feeding my stress with all the stuff I wanted (chocolate, pizza, cinnamon rolls, m/m's)and went for a run this afternoon. I got a good 4 miles in (37 minutes) with not too much nagging from my IT band. I forgot how much a good run can clear your mind and relieve stress. Because I am usually living the i.dle/i.de.al life I rarely feel this stressed or shocked about anything.

Oh, one last thing......I am putting together a playlist for my upcoming Ragnar race and would like some input.

What is your favorite song to workout/run to??????

Ugly Blog

2009-02-12T12:38:00.001-08:00

OK....so as you can see I am clearly quite new to this blog thing and although in previous lives I have mastered how to pimp out a myspace page I have not found my happy place in this blogging world. So for now this is a work in progress. I will be using my i.dle time to make this blog i.de.al

N Her Shoes: Her Thursday Things to Talk About:WIN SOME WIN!

2009-02-12T11:00:00.000-08:00

N Her Shoes: Her Thursday Things to Talk About:WIN SOME WIN!

Stinky clothes? Clean them up! Today is laundry day at my house anyways and finding this was a cool bonus so hopefully I win! Beyond my poor, poor favorite blue running shirt needing to retire or get autoclaved I also currently have one of my favorite white tanktops sitting on my dryer with armpit stains (I sweat.....I'm ok with that, in fact I love that)! If you too have laundry problems check out this cool contest, but again.....hopefully I win!

FREE CABLE!

2009-02-11T20:20:00.000-08:00

Picacho Peak - 2.1 miles to the peak

This is probably one of my favorite day hikes (from Phx area)! Today we got up early and headed out to this once site of a Civil War Battle.....what's that you say? Yes, an actual Civil War Battle was fought right here in the wild, wild west! Besides that this is also one of the best places to view wildflowers in AZ (it was pretty green today so check back next month and it should be covered)! hmmm, also of note there is an ostrich farm just down the rode which I decided that despite the fact I eat eggs the thought of ostrich or for that matter dinosaur eggs being cracked over a skillet would just be disgusting. Just prior to entering the park is the AZ Nut House (no they actually sell nuts and dried fruit and stuff).........Ok, now for the hike! This hike involves a few "technical climbs" towards the top. The hardest part of the climb is trusting the "cables and guardrails" set in place to guide you up.

Today was really clear so the 360 view from the top was great and you could even see some snow covered mountain tops off in the distance (to the east). Also of note as we were leaving the valley today the Superstitions were dusted with snow which makes the already mysterious face of the Superstitions that much AWESOMER!

2009-02-10T18:41:00.000-08:00

Idle I have been, atleast with this blog. I need to find a focus to my blogging endeavors and then I may have a future at blogging. Things that interest me or are a part of my life.......

Healthy eating - I am currently obsessed with real food blogs my favorite being www.katheats.com

Having a love/hate relationship with running - I have somehow convinced 11 other people I know to endure a 201 mile race called the Ragnar Relay which is coming up very soon just at the end of this month....... I'm a little, ok actually more than a little scared!

Hiking - I am trying to get at least 1 hike in per week until after Ragnar then hope to increase my hiking outings since wildflower season is merely weeks away.

Pilates - I will be starting a instructor training program at the end of April, I am so excited about this!

Gnomes - odd fascination, not sure why!

and soon to be Gardening - I am working on getting my plot started although the rain put me back a few days.

Nursing (a necessary part of my life to pay bills) - I am a Registered Nurse and I work in the emergency department. I was working on finishing up my Bachelor's in Nursing, however am currently on hiatus due to my company rewriting their tuition reimbursement policy and my unwillingness to pay for this endeavor out of my own pocket.

Pull-ups (this is a hate/hate relationship) - I workout with my trainer 2x per week and although I have my own NASM certification in personal training I prefer to have Jake (trainer) torture me and push me further than I would push myself when it comes to the gym.

hmmmm, I know there is more but this will be a good compass for my blogging tales.

So I think that it will be hodgepodge of the above with a little of whatever else.

3 MILE RADIUS

2009-02-03T19:18:00.000-08:00

I must comment on my 3 mile radius.

If you know me then you may have heard me or one of my friends mention the infamous 3 mile radius. Simply it is what it is.....a 3mile radius around my house that I prefer to spend my days in. Within this 3 mile radius is

work
favorite book store
great bar and grill
my torture guru aka trainer
lap pool for swimming
canal access
gas station
massage therapy
yummy lettuce wraps
sunflower market (this may actually be 4 miles, but so worth the extra mile)

I am in no way a hobbit. I just prefer not to spend 1/3 of my life commuting and driving aimlessly around town. Don't get me wrong......I will leave my 3 mile radius and often do. Pilates, brewery, hiking, day trips (including to the -copa to visit my favorite niece and nephew), and airport all entice me enough to meander beyond the invisible line. So what can only make my 3 mile radius better? For me to utilize my two wheels more often to navigate within my 3 miles. I am trying......a few times I have rode to my workouts and tonight rode to dinner at the grill and to browse the bookstore!

DAY TRIP

2009-01-27T19:16:00.000-08:00

arcosanti.....and lots of exchanges!

Today we ventured north out of our false winter where temperatures dare to dive below 60. First stop Arcosanti (the most wonderful garlic smelling bit of architecture). After a nice lunch in the home of the world's oldest rodeo (automatic + as far as towns go) we meandered down the roads staking out our future claim to running glory. Of course I forgot the camera......

http://www.arcosanti.org/

http://www.ragnarrelay.com/delsol/index.php

2009-01-23T15:52:00.000-08:00

how uber excited am I???

Today I finally put my i.dle time to use learning how to edit a photo with selective coloring or a technique called color spotting. This is something I have been doing in my mind for years. I think I originally got the idea or a similar idea while watching the move Foxfire (pre-Brangelina Jolie flick).

Sometimes people I am with will laugh at me because I will stop on a trail and take a picture of a single flower or plant along the way, but only obligingly take the "touristy" shot if I have to.

2009-01-22T19:58:00.000-08:00

Today I was tired, a side effect of my nocturnal work schedule....

I hate schedules. One thing I love about night shift is that I rarely have to wake up to an alarm clock. Sydney has an internal schedule though. Sun comes up....tickity, tickity, tickity......breakfast, naps, more naps, even more naps, dinner, sun goes down, sudden burst of energy for play time, and bedtime. This is a picture from Barnacle Bo and Squidney's Sea Adventure a few years ago.