Hello, again!

It's been a while...again.

I mentioned last time that I'd lost my motivation to keep moving. Still struggling with that, but things are on the upswing. Turns out that I had been battling some reasonably minor health problems that were sapping my energy. Those peaked in July, and have since been resolved, but at the same time, my gym went out of business very unexpectedly. I started searching for a new one but found myself really enjoying the extra free time that came from not working out. Kept meaning to take up running again, but then the summer heat & humidity hit, vacation time interrupted my routines...and wow, is that ever a long list of excuses for not exercising, eh?

The good news is that back in June, I stopped driving to work and taking transit, which has given me about 2 kms each day of extra walking. So, there's that. 

Here's what I've been up to: 

Color Me Rad 5K with Lynda - a brutally hot day. It was 38C with the humidity at 10am!

Tree planting day with our local park group. We shovelled mulch onto 100 new trees!

Archery lesson with my husband at our local castle. Turns out that we're both pretty good at this :-)

Got the kids to the beach a few times -

Rented a cabin up north for a week in July. Lots and lots of relaxing, but I got out in a kayak almost every day:

Our dog loved loved loved the cabin!

 My cousin & I got our kids up north in August for our annual Two Moms, Six Kids camping trip.

This beach was about 2 minutes from our tents

And hiking led to some spectacular views. 

 Got the dog out for lots and lots of walks of course -

And today, a bunch of us got up early and caught the ferry over to the Island for our annual Island Girl Run! Orange medals = half marathon relay (10.5KM each); blue medals = half marathon!

Back: Cassie, Sarah, Karen, Me, Lynda, Laura.
Front: Melissa, Alex, Emma

I have to say - doing 10.5K on no training didn't make for the best morning, but my nutrition was solid and I power walked my way into a finish that was only 6 minutes slower than last year's run WITH training. 

What's up next? I'm not signed up for anything, but we are talking about the Around the Bay race in March again, and I'm thinking of doing an 8K in October. I suppose I'd better stop talking about training and actually get out there. 

I'll keep you posted. 

The Thing About Rest Days

I love Rest Day. That day with a big blank on the calendar where a workout would ordinarily be. No scheduled workout, run or swim.

Occasionally, one rest day isn't enough, even if I ended up having a completely lazy day. Sometimes a second day is needed to rest a weary muscle, rest a weary body, take a mental break from the busy-ness of the active lifestyle, spend a bit of extra time with the family. 

And by the end of that second day, I'm refreshed and looking forward to getting back at it. That is, as long as I've been active in some way, like going for a family walk or hike or generally goofing around with the kids - skipping contests, playing catch, going skating, that sort of thing. Or even just taking the dog for a good, long walk. I think getting the heart rate up in some way every day generally helps with keeping the momentum going. 

But two lazy days in a row can be pretty dangerous, for me at least. Slippery slope territory.

See, I have noticed that the nagging voice in the back of my head pipes up on the morning of day 3. Who needs exercise when the bed is soooo soft. Gee, it's pretty chilly outside. Wouldn't it be great to just sit around the house in PJs again? Isn't it fabulous to have so much free time? Who needs exercise when you can reeeeeeelax?

And it's really, really tempting to listen to that voice. Expecially when it starts telling me that triple helpings of pizza, double chocolate cookies and a bowl of ice cream would go really well with a third day on the couch.

Why is that a problem? Because I know from my old life on the couch, and past experiences trying to change out of it, that three days can easily turn into four...into a week...and back into a sedentary lifestyle that's hard to break out of.

All of this is to say that I needed, and took, two rest days in a row at the end of last week. Didn't hear a peep from that little voice until it started whispering to me this morning. It took a heck of a lot of commitment and discipline to pull on sneakers and head out the door.

Funny how that little voice quieted down as soon as I made it to the front porch.

Lesson learned, I think - rest days should be playful, not slothful. For me at least.

Here's this week's recap -

Saturday - C25K week 6, run 2 (run 10 minutes, walk 3, run 10). Covered 3.1K. And man - it was windy! So windy that I was completely dry (not sweaty) when I finished.

Made a rather delicious vegetable-lentil stew this weekend. It's about the only way that I like sweet potatoes.

Sunday - 2K dog park walk. Saw the first robin of the season - and my husband came home from his trip!

Monday - Curves circuit + boot camp (200 squats, 350 crunches, 320 arm curls w/5lb weights)

Tuesday - C25K week 6, run 3 = 23 mins running in 10s and 1s. Covered 3.25K

Wednesday - Glorious weather today. Hit a park after school and another after dinner.  Before bed, ran C25K week 7, run 1 = 25 mins running in 10s and 1s. Covered 3.35K.

At the park/dog park on a stunningly beautiful evening.
Daughter was pretending she was Dorothy NOT falling into the pig pen from the start of The Wizard of Oz

Thursday - Fell asleep on the couch after dinner and missed Zumba. Decided to make today a rest day.

Friday - Still tired so took a second rest day. Crazy windy, cold and a lot of blowing snow. Took Stella to the dog park (2K round trip walk) for an hour. Brrrrrrrr.

Cause and Effect (AKA When Will I Learn?)

Over the weekend, I make the mistake of having a few chips.

Which over the following days turned into more chips, then chocolate, pizza, Diet Coke and ice cream. I think there was a cookie or two in there as well.

Which had me feeling lousy for making so many slipups, and also low on energy from not fuelling myself properly.

Being low on energy made it very tempting to skip the gym...but thanks to the Last Queen Standing challenge, I went.

And now that I've been to the gym, I feel much better. More in control. Over the hump.

I've heard a quote from David Kessler to the effect that certain foods prime us for overeating. Clearly chips are the one for me.

So. When will I learn? I'm not entirely sure that I've beaten this one yet.

What do you struggle with?

Here's this week's recap:



Aaaand we're off! Running past Ben as he tries to take a pic of the group - that's me in red; my husband is in the right corner.

Saturday - After the Toronto Do Life 5K, we hit the highway. Went out of town for a BBQ with my husband's family. Lovely time, including wading in a beautiful creek, playing catch, and general hanging with the family. Later, headed a few blocks over to my cousin's house for a sleepover.
 

Seriously wishing that this was in my backyard


Sunday - Rest day. Splashed around in the pool with kids and cousin, brunched and relaxed before hitting the highway to come back home.

Monday - Curves after dinner.

Tuesday - Ice cream. 'Nuff said.

Wednesday - Zumba AND an abs class after dinner. Ow.

Thursday - Zumba and once around the circuit after dinner

Friday - Packed up and hit the highway after work. The Warrior Dash is in the morning!! Have to admit that I'm panicking a bit...!

The Week 5 'Queen of the Circuit' Challenges:
Drink more water - check
Workout 3 times - check
Do three extra reps on each station - check
Do an abs class - check
Play a game - Warrior Dash counts for this :-)
Bring in a healthy recipe - check

What I'm reading this week - Sookie Stackhouse stories by Charlaine Harris

A Fine Example of an Uneven Week

Ever have one of those weeks that's wildly uneven? Days where you are pleased with the exercise you got and/or food you choose, alternating with days that couldn't be further off the mark if you tried? I had one of those this week. Check it out:

Saturday - the week started off well, even if I do look rather intense here!

Saturday - Rode my bike to Curves and back (6K round trip); worked out + 58 pushups. Spent the afternoon and the rest of the day sitting around - sitting in the car to go to London, sitting at friends' houses. Also at a lot of cheese.

Sunday - More sitting around with friends and eating cheese. Got in the car to come home and ran into terrible weather. Freezing rain and sleet turned what should have been a 2-hour trip home into a stressful 4-hour ordeal. Multiple roll-overs, multiple cars in the ditch and countless fenderbenders. None of which involved us, thank God. Got home wayyyy late.

Monday - Very tired. Skipped the stairs and the gym. Saw the chiropractor after work - I've got some crazy neck and shoulder issues going on after spending so much time in the dentist's chair last week.

Tuesday - I love this sculpture in Commerce Court! Something awesome - it's right outside the Running Room.


Tuesday - Lunchtime walk, 2.1K. Skipped the stairs. Not an ideal decision considering that the Tower climb is in less than 2 weeks. Spent the evening driving kids to and from their activities, then ended up at Emerg in the late evening with my son, who was complaining of stomach cramps. Fortunately, it turned out to be nothing serious. Took a while to get seen  - we didn't get home from the hospital until 5:30am the next morning.

Later on Tuesday - MUCH later. It's 3AM and we've still got 2 hours of waiting to go.

Wednesday - Absolutely shattered. 'Nuff said.

Thursday - Zumba + Curves after dinner. Sweated so much that my eyes were stinging. Great workout!

Friday - Nope, not an emergency. It's a film shoot. One of the official signs of spring in Toronto.

Friday - Went for a gentle stroll at lunchtime. Maybe 1K. Back to the chiro after work.

CN Tower is in one week, folks. Yikes!

What I learned this week - If I don't bring my lunch to work, I don't exercise mid-day. I'm too hungry to exercise before I pick something up, and too full + pressed for time to go out again after I eat. Better to bring a salad + something, eat the salad while I work, go for a walk, then eat the rest while I work after I get back. Next week = back on track, right?

What I'm reading this week - Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy.

Getting the Body Back in Motion

Newton's First Law of Motion: A body at rest stays at rest, and a body in motion stays in motion unless it is acted on by an external force.

Absolutely amazing how that applies to the habit of exercising, eh?



Hello, CN Tower. I see you watching me during my lunchtime walk.
Looking forward to our date in April?
Somehow, you don't look as tall to me as you used to :-)



I have been getting daily exercise for months. Some days came with less exertion than others, but it's still been daily, aside from the odd day off here and there. Happily, it's become the way I live my life.



With the kids being sick and my husband away last week, I missed a couple of workouts and got very little exercise. The first day wasn't so bad. On the second day, I was craving a workout. By the third day, I was going a bit squirrely.

But then - I got used to being inactive. Got used to housework as being my only exercise and you know what? I wasn't missing the gym, wasn't missing walking, wasn't missing pushups - wasn't missing ANYTHING at all.

By the time my husband came back and I was finally able to get out for a workout, I had to have a full argument with myself about getting back to the gym.

"I don't want to go."

"Go - you'll be glad you did."

"But it's nice and cosy in the house - we could lie around and read a book!"

"Go - you'll have fun. You can read that book later today. "

"How about if we relax for a few more days? Maybe go next week sometime?"

"GET UP, GET DRESSED AND GET GOING. NOW!"

As soon as I stepped outside with my keys and gym bag in hand, I was fine. It was totally natural to head to the car and go to the gym. And once I'd been to the gym, it was totally natural to take my daughter up on her offer to go power walking after dinner. But wow - did I ever need to use force to get myself back in motion.  Unbelievable how much of a battle that was!

Hope everyone else is staying in motion this week. If you're slipping - get yourself moving again!!



Doing a pre-pushup plank in my (toy-filled) family room.
Not sure if Sally is keeping me company or if she's worried about me.



Here's this week's recap:

Saturday - My husband got home from his trip! Powerwalked my daughter down to gynmastics and back (1.1K); miscellaneous errands and out to dinner in the evening. 

Sunday - Got my lazy self to the gym and had a great workout. Stopped and smiled when I noticed that I have developed indentations between my shins and leg muscles! It's been, oh, forever since I've been able to see these! Did 30 pushups after my workout, and went for a brisk 1.9K walk with my daughter after dinner - she wants to start training for our 5K this fall!

Monday - A holiday - no work, no school!

Tuesday - Stairs to 7 in AM; gym after work, including 30 pushups.

Wednesday - Stairs to 7 in AM, 20 min lunchtime stroll. Zumba Curves after dinner, 32 pushups.

Thursday - Stairs to 7 in AM, 2.5K lunchtime powerwalk. 13 + 33 pushups.

Friday - 1.8K lunchtime powerwalk. 3 + 34 pushups.

 

Aaaad on to the pushups.
OK, this cat thing is a bit distracting.



What I'm reading this week - Unbearable Lightness, Portia de Rossi's memoir of her years as an anorexic. Brutally honest. Was relieved to read the final chapters about her recovery and finding happiness.