Last night after we got home from doing some strength training at the Y, I did something I haven't done since, I swear, high school, when Friday's PE class was a day of forced running.
Yes, I ran.
Me. Running. Nothing chasing me.
It's bizarre, I know. I didn't run far, but I ran continuously; I'm going to check my distance today...the route was around a small part of my neighborhood. I even ran up a little hill. It was amazing.
And it was raining. I was running in the rain, and it felt pretty good.
Why was I running, even though I was not being chased by a bear or a mad man?
I am considering participating in a mini--or sprint--triathlon. .5 mile swim; 11-ish mile bike and 3 mile run. My biggest obstacle at this point is gear. Do you know how much gear one needs for a triathlon? And it's all expensive! I have my eye on the Danskin Triathlon next year--an all woman triathlon. There are other sprint triathlons in our area with similar distances (the bike distance seems to vary the most), but the Danskin Tri just seems like the right one.
The morning after I started to entertain the idea of doing the DT, we were at spin class at 5:30am, and this woman walks in--a bigger woman, definitely not your stereotypical triathlete physique--and she is wearing the DT shirt. I don't remember ever seeing her at a previous spin class with us (we're one of "the regulars" now--our spin teacher calls us the Dynamic Duo...Ha). It was a sign, I tell you!
So now I need to incorporate some running and swimming into my life.
Swimming. I have never been a stroke swimmer. Well, I would do a few sloppy strokes, stop and chat. Play around. I've never been a stroke and lap swimmer, I guess. 32 laps in a 25yd pool is half a mile. I have no idea when I'm going to try the swim portion. I better get my butt in the water soon, though! I need a suit, and some triathletes wear, like, wetsuits for the swim. The water in the lakes here in western Washington doesn't warm up too well usually. A regular suit runs about $80, but a wetsuit...that's a lot more money.
The bike...I know I can do 11 miles no problem--unless it is all vertical. That could be a challenge. Hilly or flat, I need a new bike. Badly. And bike shoes. Easily $1000 for a bike and shoes. In fact, that's a very low-end estimate.
The run. New shoes that are actually designed for running will cost around $100...maybe a bit more.
There are photos from the DT in Seattle here. Women of all shapes and sizes.
I can do this.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
finals
This is the final Friday of a lovely Summer Break.
I have enjoyed the past several weeks, and I am sad that it is coming to an end; nonetheless, I am looking forward to shipping some kids off to school for 6+ hours a day. I expect this school year to be faaaarrrr better than last school year, which I think was a waste of 180 days of Maya's life. Seriously.
And I don't have to endure having Paige in high school anymore. The gods are good.
Brittani begins her senior year this year, and I expect her senior year to be faaaarrrr better than Paiges senior year. Please, please, please, do not make me eat my words.
If I told you that Paige's senior year left permanent scars on my psyche, would that sound crazy? Because it did. Dammit. I need to let the anger goooooo... I stopped seeing that therapist, btw. I think she is crazy.
Anyway, that senior year is done, and we are on to a better year this year!
~~~~
So I've been busting my ass, getting up 4 days a week at 4:45am to go to spin at the Y, and we've begun lifting weights 3 times a week. I've been paying every month to attend Weight Watchers meetings weekly since May. I have lost 20+lbs, and I am now within a normal BMI. I am no longer in the "overweight" category. I am at the top end of normal for my height, but I'm there. I feel great...better than I have in years. I feel even better than I did when I was on South Beach Diet because I can still eat what I want to eat--just less of it. I do feel full faster now, too. Just last night I had a slice of meat pizza and salad with strawberries, sliced almonds and feta tossed with olive oil and balsamic. Totally full. One slice of pizza. I used to pack in three or four, I swear. Ick.
But Pizza. I ate pizza. At least once a week I eat a slice of pizza, and I still lose weight. Never on SBD could I do that.
Now I need to lose another 10-15lbs and keep it off until January of 2011...our long awaited trip to Mexico.
I have enjoyed the past several weeks, and I am sad that it is coming to an end; nonetheless, I am looking forward to shipping some kids off to school for 6+ hours a day. I expect this school year to be faaaarrrr better than last school year, which I think was a waste of 180 days of Maya's life. Seriously.
And I don't have to endure having Paige in high school anymore. The gods are good.
Brittani begins her senior year this year, and I expect her senior year to be faaaarrrr better than Paiges senior year. Please, please, please, do not make me eat my words.
If I told you that Paige's senior year left permanent scars on my psyche, would that sound crazy? Because it did. Dammit. I need to let the anger goooooo... I stopped seeing that therapist, btw. I think she is crazy.
Anyway, that senior year is done, and we are on to a better year this year!
~~~~
So I've been busting my ass, getting up 4 days a week at 4:45am to go to spin at the Y, and we've begun lifting weights 3 times a week. I've been paying every month to attend Weight Watchers meetings weekly since May. I have lost 20+lbs, and I am now
But Pizza. I ate pizza. At least once a week I eat a slice of pizza, and I still lose weight. Never on SBD could I do that.
Now I need to lose another 10-15lbs and keep it off until January of 2011...our long awaited trip to Mexico.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
cool nights
We came home from South Carolina couple weeks ago to quite the heat wave in western Washington. I am very thankful for our air conditioning on those rare times when the night doesn't cool down like it usually does.
Last night, I finally turned off the a/c and opened the windows up again. We're back to rain, gray skies and temps in the mid 60s, which is great for fall but is dismal weather for the last few weeks of summer vacation.
I love a cool breeze blowing across me at night when I sleep, so we usually sleep with our bedroom window open all year long--even in the dead of winter. It used to drive Wayne nuts, but he's used to it now. The most difficult part of sleeping with an open window is the noise.
Our neighborhood is your standard tract housing neighborhood in the suburbs--one of those that went up like mad in the late 90s and early 2000s (our home was built in 2003). My neighbor's back door is probably 50 feet from my back door, and each house is about 10 feet apart on the sides. We're scrunched in here, which is one reason why I am dying to move away from here. Anyway, the noise.
We always have our bedroom window open, but usually our neighbor's keep their windows closed--unless it's hot. Then our windows close, and their windows open. It's well coordinated.
This morning, with our window open and their windows open, we were flooded with morning noise:
Last night, I finally turned off the a/c and opened the windows up again. We're back to rain, gray skies and temps in the mid 60s, which is great for fall but is dismal weather for the last few weeks of summer vacation.
I love a cool breeze blowing across me at night when I sleep, so we usually sleep with our bedroom window open all year long--even in the dead of winter. It used to drive Wayne nuts, but he's used to it now. The most difficult part of sleeping with an open window is the noise.
Our neighborhood is your standard tract housing neighborhood in the suburbs--one of those that went up like mad in the late 90s and early 2000s (our home was built in 2003). My neighbor's back door is probably 50 feet from my back door, and each house is about 10 feet apart on the sides. We're scrunched in here, which is one reason why I am dying to move away from here. Anyway, the noise.
We always have our bedroom window open, but usually our neighbor's keep their windows closed--unless it's hot. Then our windows close, and their windows open. It's well coordinated.
This morning, with our window open and their windows open, we were flooded with morning noise:
- Alarms beeping relentlessly, being snoozed, only to go off again in 7-9 minutes. I cant tell you how many alarms--different alarms-- I heard go off between 4:30am and 5:30am! I also never realized how many people awaken to the BEEP-BEEP-BEEP alarm. Who can wake up to that and have anything close to resembling a happy day?
- Babies crying. I know they cry. I am sympathetic to that, since I had a baby and lived in pretty much an apartment. That must have sucked for my neighbors, and I'm sorry. Still, it is unpleasant to awaken to a baby crying...and crying..and crying--especially when that baby is not yours.
- Dogs barking. Incessantly. This dog, I want to scream at him to SHUT UP. Every freaking morning, he yips and yips like crazy. His owners are either gone or just ignore him. Who in their right mind lives in a neighborhood like this and owns a dog that is a persistent yipper? It just doesn't seem well thought out to me.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
reunited
...and it feels so good.
This weekend was my reunion.
Awesome.
No, it really was awesome.
The funny thing about high school is that it is a short time in one's life--maybe the shortest stage--but it is the time in life when we develop our identity, which makes it a very significant period of time. Most people would never in a million years want to go through high school again, and I am in the majority, for sure; however, it's still fun to go back once every decade to see what everyone's been up to and to see the people who helped you establish your identity (that you have probably--hopefully-- shed for new identity by the 20 year reunion).
The ten year reunion, which I've whined about possibly too much, was a cliquey event. Ten years isn't a lot of time to pass between graduation and reunion. There may be some insecurities that remain, some old relationships that still hurt or cause one to feel embarrassed (not speaking from personal experience. Ha!), and you're also still trying to establish your place in the adult world.
By the twenty year reunion, we're married, maybe divorced and remarried; most of us have kids; careers are mostly established; identities are more secure and are likely vastly different than the identity one had in high school (thank god!)...everything feels more settled. At least that's how I felt, and I'm one of those people that thinks everyone feels the same way I feel.
Okay, so it's TWENTY years later, and this reunion did not feel cliquey to me at all. Of course I was hanging with my girls, but I also chatted up people that weren't part of my high school group. Most of the women looked great. Amazing, even. The guys were all men. It's weird how that happens. Some were heavier, bulkier...a few had less hair. They all wore their new looks well, though.
I only had one person who was a complete ass to me, which is exactly how he was in high school. Oh well, no worries. Obviously not everyone matures and grows in 20 years, so KH, maybe at the 25 or 30 year reunion, you can act like a reasonable mature adult.
My favorite part of the reunion was just seeing the girls I hung out with in high school (RB, JM, RR, HM, SJ, JD), and I even mingled with a few women I wasn't tight with in high school but whom I get on with awesomely now (BSR, that's you).
I missed some people: Andy, Dave, Andrew M, in particular. They were the guys I think of when I think back to high school...maybe briefly they were boyfriends, but more importantly they were boy friends. I hear they are all doing well, and that makes me so happy. Back in high school, I never would have thought that I would care what my classmates would be doing in 20 years, nor would I even imagine that I would be happy, thrilled even, at their successes and happiness. But I am. I can honestly say that being in a room with a bunch of people who really seem to be where they want to be in life--or are headed that direction-- is very uplifting and satisfying.
The gin and tonics help keep that high feeling going, I imagine.
I can't wait for the next reunion...5 years from now, maybe?
This weekend was my reunion.
Awesome.
No, it really was awesome.
The funny thing about high school is that it is a short time in one's life--maybe the shortest stage--but it is the time in life when we develop our identity, which makes it a very significant period of time. Most people would never in a million years want to go through high school again, and I am in the majority, for sure; however, it's still fun to go back once every decade to see what everyone's been up to and to see the people who helped you establish your identity (that you have probably--hopefully-- shed for new identity by the 20 year reunion).
The ten year reunion, which I've whined about possibly too much, was a cliquey event. Ten years isn't a lot of time to pass between graduation and reunion. There may be some insecurities that remain, some old relationships that still hurt or cause one to feel embarrassed (not speaking from personal experience. Ha!), and you're also still trying to establish your place in the adult world.
By the twenty year reunion, we're married, maybe divorced and remarried; most of us have kids; careers are mostly established; identities are more secure and are likely vastly different than the identity one had in high school (thank god!)...everything feels more settled. At least that's how I felt, and I'm one of those people that thinks everyone feels the same way I feel.
Okay, so it's TWENTY years later, and this reunion did not feel cliquey to me at all. Of course I was hanging with my girls, but I also chatted up people that weren't part of my high school group. Most of the women looked great. Amazing, even. The guys were all men. It's weird how that happens. Some were heavier, bulkier...a few had less hair. They all wore their new looks well, though.
I only had one person who was a complete ass to me, which is exactly how he was in high school. Oh well, no worries. Obviously not everyone matures and grows in 20 years, so KH, maybe at the 25 or 30 year reunion, you can act like a reasonable mature adult.
My favorite part of the reunion was just seeing the girls I hung out with in high school (RB, JM, RR, HM, SJ, JD), and I even mingled with a few women I wasn't tight with in high school but whom I get on with awesomely now (BSR, that's you).
I missed some people: Andy, Dave, Andrew M, in particular. They were the guys I think of when I think back to high school...maybe briefly they were boyfriends, but more importantly they were boy friends. I hear they are all doing well, and that makes me so happy. Back in high school, I never would have thought that I would care what my classmates would be doing in 20 years, nor would I even imagine that I would be happy, thrilled even, at their successes and happiness. But I am. I can honestly say that being in a room with a bunch of people who really seem to be where they want to be in life--or are headed that direction-- is very uplifting and satisfying.
The gin and tonics help keep that high feeling going, I imagine.
I can't wait for the next reunion...5 years from now, maybe?
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