Tuesday, December 31, 2013

The Final Countdown : RoadTrip Review for December; Looking back on 2013.

It is the end of 2013. What a ride. Glancing back over my blog for this past year, I was really a downer for the first half of the year. And for no good reason. I was just miserable at work and feeling like a bump on a log, and most of that was of my own doing.

Towards the middle of the year, when Amy's and my challenge began, I felt a change; it was a great change. I had a goal. A tangible, in-my-hands goal that I could see daily progress in. Some days I failed. Even some weeks I failed. But, I never forgot my ultimate ending.... a healthier me at the end of these miles.

The tail end of the year really was hard. As much as I gripe about her, almost losing my mother was the scariest event in my life. Because I only have one. And she's it. And I have to love her for all that she is, and now I realize I have been trying to hate her for all that she is not. I have to accept her decisions just as she has to accept mine, and I think a good sit down, heartfelt talk is in order soon.
We also had some true loss in the family as well. My cousin lost one of his twin baby girls shortly before Thanksgiving, and the surviving girl is fighting for her life every day. It was a hard pregnancy and a difficult situation to begin with, but little Elizabeth is the beacon we hope will grow and shine brighter every day; but we also won't forget little Heather.
We also lost my maternal Grandmother on the 22nd of December. It was a long hard road for her, for us all. She survived her husband's passing by more than ten years, and her eldest son's passing by about five, and her younger brother's passing by two. She was 89. And beautiful. And she taught me how to truly stand by a husband and be devoted, but also not to take any shit from him. The way she used my grandfather's name to rope him in was a true art form, and I will miss her playing solitaire or crocheting blankets, and the way the clock on her wall made a funny buzzing noise ever so often because it was a 60's clock... and the way she smiled, her light blue eyes that my father shares with her, and the shaggy carpet that eventually was replaced by a cushy Berber carpet. I'll miss my father bringing her poinsettias for Christmas, and her smile that really lit up a room with the love she had for her family. I will miss her for a long time.

I wish I had a good photograph of her, but all of my pictures are currently out of reach, under a massive pile of crud in the office. Instead, I do have a beautiful portrait of her that was done for the memorial service, along with flowers I ended up taking home.












And now onto the final piece of 2013. I took the month of December off from blogging, so instead of daily breakdowns of the walking challenge, I have a weekly breakdown.

12/1   - 12/07 : 15.28 miles (-9.22 miles)
12/8   - 12/14 : 19.84 miles (-4.66 miles)
12/15 - 12/21 : 32.65 miles (+8.15 miles)
12/22 - 12/28 : 49.37 miles (+24.87miles)
12/29 - 12/31 : 11.43 miles (+0.93 miles) [3 day goal: 10.50 miles]

So, how did I do?

24 Week (+3 Day) Goal: 598.50 miles

My Actual 24 Week (+3 Day) Total: 625.41 miles!

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!! I made it to our destination, AND THEN SOME!!



The little finish line is over Morrow Mountain State Park.
The red square is where I walked to... almost 27 miles more!

And now the coup-de-gras..... The final picture!

24 Weeks. 598.5 Miles.
And WE DID IT!


Amy should have her blog up soon enough... so go see where she ended up! No matter if we made our destinations or not, it was NEVER about the end point. I am SO PROUD that both her and I made the commitment and stuck through it! Some weeks were tough. Others seemed too easy. But we did it, and we did it for OURSELVES!!


As a gift to myself.... I am framing the paper I used to keep track of the miles. It's nothing fancy, but it will serve as a good reminder to never give up, and to remember that I am doing this for 
MYSELF 
and no one else!


So now what.......?? 
I say......



Saturday, November 30, 2013

Road Trip Review 11/24 - 11/30

Hey, I'm actually on time with this week's blog! But only because I sadly know that at 10pm Saturday night I am no longer going to be active and that this week, although a slight success, is also the beginning of a slide into failure.

Let's jump right in....

Sunday-- 1.33mi
Monday-- 14.00mi
Tuesday-- 5.59mi
Wednesday-- 1.75mi
Thursday-- 1.79mi
Friday-- 2.24mi
Saturday-- 1.75mi

Weekly Goal- 24.50 miles
Weekly Total- 28.45 miles
Deficit--> +3.95 miles!!

Whew! I was worried that I would miss this week, especially because the U.S. Thanksgiving was on Thursday. But, Mary agreed to try a spin class with me (it's a love/hate relationship with her still... but at least she tried it!) and so that's where Monday's big number came from!

So, up until this point I have walked 497.84 miles, and the goal for the end of 2013 was 595.00 miles. I have approximately 31 days to walk another 97.16 miles.... or, about 3.13 miles per day. Oh boy. No pressure!

Here are 2 quickie maps for you.....

I'm in South Carolina heading to North Carolina!


What a journey it has been!!


Road Trip Review 11/16 - 11/23

Well, I fell behind two weeks again. I also apologize for any typos for this and my next post [at least].... I got my nails done up with acrylics to get a head start on my New Year's Resolution (to stop biting my nails) and had them done on Wednesday. They are very pretty.... but I'm so used to not having nails that it makes even buttoning my pants very difficult!!

(You know what else makes buttoning your pants difficult?? gaining 10lbs in November. Sadface.)

So, moving on.... I had a difficult week, and due to the fact that I have one more week to catch up on after this, I am not going to have maps.

Sunday-- 5.14mi
Monday-- 1.25mi
Tuesday-- 4.36mi
Wednesday-- 4.06mi
Thursday-- 3.25mi
Friday-- 1.75mi
Saturday-- 2.05mi


Weekly Goal: 24.50 miles
Weekly Total: 21.86 miles

Deficit--> -2.64 miles

Total miles up to this week:   469.39 miles
Total miles for this challenge: 595.00 miles

Only 125.61 miles to go!!


I have to say that my dedication is slipping to the blog. I still consciously make the effort every day, but this blog thing is not helping with finals coming up and the holiday season starting.... it NEVER begins to look a lot like Christmas here in FL and although I've never seen a "White Christmas" in real life I still get depressed that on Christmas morning I will not have the chance to see a winter wonderland, but in fact may have a warm front into the upper 80's, or a cold chill at 60*F. Blech.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Road Trip Review 11/10 - 11/16

So, with this week, I will be caught up. This new job has been going great. Although I haven't had many long shifts, nor am I in my actual store yet (I have been training at a smaller/slower location), but I start this Sunday. Also- I have my school schedule for next semester.... with some good prospects for fitness to be involved along the way.

So, let's get started.

Sunday : 1.37 miles
Monday : 1.75 miles
Tuesday : 3.50 miles
Wednesday : 1.75 miles
Thursday : 1.75 miles
Friday : 5.50 miles
Saturday : 3.50 miles

Weekly Total : 19.12 miles
Weekly Goal :  24.50 miles
Deficit ::: -5.38 miles

Ouch. Again another loss. And....... this is also another quarterly check-in week. We are now officially 3/4 of the way there!!!! (As far as time goes) And, let's go see how far we've gone, and how far we have got to go!!

My totals for weeks 13 - 18 :::
125.34 miles
My goal for weeks 13 - 18 :::
147.00 miles
The deficit ::: 
-21.66 miles

So, the complete totals I have for all 18 weeks are........

Total for the trip thus far :::
447.53 miles
Goal for the trip thus far :::
441.00 miles
The deficit for all eighteen weeks :::
+ 6.53 miles


And here's my maps!!

I can almost see the gates from here! :-)



Now that's a lot of walking!!


Go see Amy. She is fantastic!!!!!! Once again, blogs done before mine! But, I think before Christmas we will be there! Enjoying Morrow Mountain State Park!!! <3 <3

Road Trip Review 11/03 - 11/09

Again I find myself two weeks behind. So, once again, I won't have a map up on this week, but I will have a big one for next week.

It may seem like I'm not really into this challenge anymore. I have to say my motivation to keep up with the blog portion of it has waned, but not the dedication to the challenge itself. I don't use my computer much now that I only have one online class (the other I dropped before it hurt my GPA)...... which is probably why I am late with the updates. I think I will get better, I will just have to make it a habit of using a template and updating it when I go on to get and submit my homework, about 4 times a week. Then, on Sunday night when I'm finishing and submitting the homework I'll finalize and post it. Yeah... the theory sounds great. We'll see what happens.

Shall we get this over with?

Sunday - 7.98 miles
Monday - 2.60 miles
Tuesday - 3.33 miles
Wednesday - 1.75 miles
Thursday - 1.90 miles
Friday - 1.69 miles
Saturday - 1.46 miles

Weekly total - 20.91 miles
Weekly goal - 24.50 miles
Deficit ::: -3.59 miles

Ouch. Well, I started strong. Then it all went downhill from there. I am so GOOD about the beginning of the week. Then I think... well, since I did so good... maybe I'll take a day off. Three days in a row. UGH.

So, on to next week shall we?

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Road Trip Review 10/27 - 11/02

Whew! We're finally into November!!! WOOOO!!!

Last week I suffered a bit, and was still unfocused. I also had some major events happen last week that I'm hoping will change me for the better!

I got a new job! YAY!! I was pretty miserable in retail... and although I am not all the way out of retail, I'm stepping in the right direction and my "Black Friday" will not be as bad as it has been the last ten years I've worked in retail.

I also got to spend more time with my nephew. It's getting much easier to handle him, I'm learning to treat him like a little person, rather than a child. He's still not talking much, but according to what I've read online, it's pretty normal for a 17-month-old. He has about 5 words under his belt, but I'm working on "Ti-ti Julie" next. It'll be alot better than him yelling "stop!" all the time (I think it's his favorite word lol).

Here's one of our latest selfies....

Look at that smile!!! :-D He's so handsome!



So, with that said, let's move right along into the numbers....

Sunday - 1.75 miles
Monday - 2.40 miles
Tuesday - 3.42 miles
Wednesday - 4.16 miles
Thursday - 2.70 miles
Friday - 4.04 miles
Saturday - 3.87 miles


I was pleasantly surprised when I saw these numbers. I wore my FitBit Zip everyday except for Sunday, which is why I put down my "normal" steps for that day.

Weekly total ::: 22.34 miles
Weekly goal ::: 24.50 miles
Deficit ::: -2.16 miles

I'll take that as a victory. Having still not really put myself back into the healthy mindset, I feel like I did try a little harder this week than the last week, and although I missed the goal, I feel alot better that I did make more of an effort, even if I didn't want to.

So, where am I now? With this week's total, it puts me at.....

407.50 miles!

Only 220 miles left to go!!

So, I'm getting closer! I can almost smell the forrest-y smell of the National Park now.... YUMMMM

I am sooo close! Stopping between Charleston and Savannah this week.

Look at that beautiful red line!! :-)


A comparison of Amy and I up to week 16 (this week).
I might be closer but she's right on my heels, I think she really
wants to make some s'mores!! :-D


Amy and I have both been quite busy. And, she's decided to SuperWoman herself up and join in on Na[tional]Blo[g]Po[sting]Mo[nth], where she posts one blog a day for the month of November! No thank you! LOL But I will be excitedly reading hers!!!!! Just make sure to REMIND HER TO GET HER FITNESS IN!!!! Maybe she can do a daily blog about just how much this challenge means to her to finish!???! [HINT HINT!!]


Road Trip Review 10/20 - 10/26

Ah yes, I fell behind. Two whole weeks behind. I just didn't make the time to get myself right, and let my fitness take a backseat ride to unimportant things, like eating junk food and playing video games, and worrying about my Ethics college class that I ended up dropping anyway. Ugh. Time to refocus.

Let's make this one quick. I won't have any maps, but I will have an extended map for the following week I'm about to do.... :)


Sunday - 4.50 miles
Monday - 4.10 miles
Tuesday - 3.00 miles
Wednesday - 1.75 miles
Thursday - 1.75 miles
Friday - 1.25 miles
Saturday - 2.00 miles


Weekly Goal - 24.50 miles
Weekly Total - 18.35 miles
Deficit ::: -6.15 miles

Ouch. I started the week off strong, with zumba on Sunday and Tuesday, and a nice busy day running errands on Monday after class... but I dropped it towards the end of the week. I am really struggling to balance everything right now, and am thankful I don't have any children because I'm sure they would be neglected and I would be a terrible parent. Right now I feel bad I can't take the dog for a walk everyday (and the main reasoning for that is she is hard to walk, what with the whole dog-on-dog aggression issue... yeah...)

So, let's move right into next week!

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Yoga: Why I'm Going To Get Back Into It..

Click the link below to go to a bigger version of this infographic..


I found this on a website, and after looking at the information.... why am I not doing yoga right now??!?!

Well, on top of having my nephew for the day again, I've been slacking like crazy. UGH.


...I'll elaborate later when I'm not chasing a toddler down!!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Road Trip Review 10/13 - 10/19

Well, it's been another doozie. And by doozie, I mean I feel like I got so far behind in life that it just sorta flew by me without happening. The Ethics class I'm taking is rough, not to mention the fact that I am back to working 5 days again for the foreseeable future... which sucks. And next week (the week of Halloween) I'm closing all 5 days. WTF.

Let's get to it shall we?

Sunday : 7.10 miles
Monday : 1.75 miles
Tuesday : 8.18 miles
Wednesday : 4.00 miles
Thursday : 4.34 miles (Hockey game)
Friday : 3.50 miles (nephew / Oktoberfest)
Saturday : 3.50 miles (nephew / Oktoberfest again)

Total: 32.37 miles
Goal: 24.50 miles
Deficit: +7.87 miles!


The notes are so I don't forget to tell you about the awesome time I had this past weekend!! Thursday John and I hopped across the state to Sunrise, FL, to catch a Bruins @ Panthers NHL game. It was FANTASTIC!!!!

Just a quick vid of them warming up.

Awww we are so cute!

GGGGGOOOOAAALLLLLLLL

I like taking selfies <3

Winners!! 3-0!



THEN, on Friday, I had my nephew, Matthias, for the first time by myself!! What a cutie pie! We spent the early part of the day at a park with my co-worker Cathy and her daughter Adriana, who is the same age as Matthias. They had a fun time!


Playing together!

AWWWWW THE CUTENESS!!!!!

He put MY shoe on instead of his OTHER one! =)

Carseat fun!

And then later after he was picked up, John, myself, Brian, and Julie all went to our local annual Oktoberfest for BEER (for them, I drove) and SAUSAGE DINNERRRRRRRRRRRRRR (John's favorite thing).

It was humid and icky, and John got drunk pretty early, but overall, fun was had. I had a funnel cake (that in the wee hours of Fri/Sat I threw up around 3AM and suffered for another few hours after that). But it was a nice time!

YAY BEER!


We also went again on Saturday night, but not before I spent ANOTHER day with Matthias. This time he blew me kisses!


He loves his car rides!

And for this trip to Oktoberfest, Jeanette joined us! And we had some more (not as drunk) fun!

Jeanette and her beer!

Brian and his.... wait a minute..

John thinks he can replaced me with beer.... he is so right. -.- (lol)

My cuzzie and roommate! Twu Wuv! :-D

We were being goofy!



And so there it is. A ridiculously LONG post mostly about my fitness but with a What's Goin' On awesomeness twist!

Where am I this week??

Right outside Savannah, GA!

AHHH SO CLOSEEEEE!!!!

More than halfway there!!!

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Road Trip Review 10/6 - 10/12

What a friggin week. Both this week and last have been very trying on my sanity.

Last week you read about my Grandmother going into the hospital and subsequently Hospice care. Well, so far there has been no update on her condition, so no news is good news on that front.

I managed to LOSE MY FRIGGIN FITBIT LAST SATURDAY AND I'M VERY PISSED ABOUT THIS SO YES I'M TYPING IN ALL CAPITALS BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER LOST IT AND THEN I DID AND GRRRRRRRRRRRR IT JUST MAKES ME MAD!!!!!

... /rant over. I found my fitbit. In a pair of pants I wore Saturday before getting ridiculously drunk and having the worst hangover of all time the next day.

So, I know I made my daily steps, but don't know how much past that. I worked almost EVERY NIGHT this week, so didn't get to work out with Mary ONCE this week (although I saw her at Tuesday zumba but still).... I feel so fat this week.

Oh, and while I'm in the honest mood... I drank like 3 sodas, ate like I used to, and didn't bother to go to the gym during the daytime I was home.... why? Because I'm a fat loser. UGH. So disgusted with myself. Seriously. All that hard work and I just pissed it all away on this one week. I am dreading getting on the scales tomorrow. DREADING.

So, without further ado- my stupid non-effort-ed totals:

Sunday : 1.75mi
Monday : 1.75mi
Tuesday : 1.75mi
Wednesday : 1.75mi
Thursday : 1.75mi
Friday : 1.75mi
Saturday : 1.75mi

Total : 12.25 miles
Goal : 24.5 miles
Deficit : -12.25 miles

Ouchies. I basically did nothing this week. I'm not even counting zumba on Tuesday because I still felt slightly hungover (just beat up really.... body was so sore) so my effort was at like .... 12% instead of my normal 110%. YUCKCCKKCKCKCCKCKCKCKCKCKCKCKCKCK.

Because I did not have maps for last week's post, this week's will look impressive because I am doing two week's worth on the map.

I'm a fish!
Shark-bait OO-HA HA!




Road Trip Review 9/29 - 10/5

Woah. What a crazy week it's been. My grandmother went into the hospital, and was moved to Hospice. She has since been moved home with daily in-home Hospice care, as she does not wish to be at a "facility". It is sad to say that she is very near the end of her life, but she has lived a long and loving life. My grandfather, her husband, left us in 2001; her eldest son 3 years later. She has seen love, loss, and everything in between. The moon landing, FDR's speech about Pearl Harbor, the discovery of AIDS and the end of racial segregation. She had lived a beautiful life. I don't know what her future holds, but we are keeping her comfortable [read: morphine] and off machines [her wishes] and knowing that when she's finally ready to let go, she'll be met in Heaven by her husband and oldest son who are eager to see her.

That being said, let's get into my numbers......

Sunday : 6.22 mi
Monday : 4.68 mi
Tuesday : 3.98 mi
Wednesday : 1.75 mi
Thursday : 2.90 mi
Friday : 4.13 mi
Saturday : 4.50 mi



Friday and Saturday were big days but not for walking reasons.

My zumba instructor had a birthday outing and so we went to a Latin Nightclub on Friday. Let me just say, for a man who's got moves straight from New York, he is EQUALLY as awesome on the dance floor! Our zumba moves came in handy and he danced with each of us ladies that night, which was totally awesome. He is a great lead partner, and although I was shaky on my feet, he turned me out on that dance floor and spun me around the room!! If I could just be in love with talent, I would be in love with his!! It was a fun night.

Saturday me and a different group of people all went out for my friend Maggie's birthday. It was her 50th, and so a big deal. I drank this night (did not drink Friday because I drove) and I got SO DRUNK that I could barely walk straight at 2am when we went home. Don't worry, John came and picked me, Maggie, and a few other friends up so we didn't have to drive. This was more of an older-crowd type club, and so the music was okay at best, but nothing was super-recent. I instead focused on drinking and dancing to my own tune! It was nice. I had the NASTIEST hangover the next day, I thought I was going to die. No more vodka for me lolol (and John says I better not have any other friends with big birthdays anytime soon because the $65 bar tab was a little excessive................ that was only MY bar tab LOLOLOLOL)


So, my totals were:

28.16 miles!

+3.66mi!!

So.... that's awesome. I am up for this week. I didn't think I would be!


My 6-week total for week's 7-12 is ::: 155.85 mi (goal -> 147 mi)


So...... my 12-Week total is :::: 322.22 mi (goal -> 294 mi)


My 12-Week deficit is::::::::::::: +28.19 miles!!!

I am rolling right along and should be in Troutville on time!

Monday, September 30, 2013

Road Trip Review 9/22 - 9/28

Week 11. Whew. I am toughing this out. I don't think I have EVER kept up some sort of fitness THING for this long... unless you count my gym membership lol.

Well, according to the charts, I should have walked 269.5 miles up until this point. Let's see how I did!

Sunday : 1hr Zumba, 1hr Core workout, every day steps 3.5mi
Monday : 2hr Lower/Upper Body workout w cardio mixed in, every day steps : 3.75mi
Tuesday : 1hr Zumba, 1hr Yoga, 1hr Walk/Jog, 1hr Core : 4.00mi
Wednesday : every day steps, 2mi walk : 3.75mi
Thursday : 2hr Core, every day steps : 3.75mi
Friday : NADA (I'll explain)
Saturday : 1hr walk (slow pace), 1hr yoga : 2.00mi


Thursday night I came down with a pretty violent sinus infection. It literally knocked me on my ASS Friday and Saturday. Friday I don't think I even took a mile's worth of steps, and even if I did it was very zombie like and NOT fitness oriented AT ALL. So, I will count that as a zero day. Saturday I felt a little better, but still was pretty icky; I took full advantage of the steam room at my gym, going for about an hour and walking on the treadmill at a snail's pace after. I figured it should count for something. Then, later that night I did some gentle yoga because I was sore from not moving much the past two days. It was nice.

So, my week's total is ........... 20.75mi!
The weekly goal is 24.50mi, Which means I am down....
-3.75mi

Icky. Another week in the red. Granted, last week I was only a quarter of a mile in the red, but still, I'm trying not to make a habit of it! I also am having trouble keeping track of what days Mary and I hit the gym together and whether or not we do a class, or work out our core, or arms, or legs.... I need a calendar in my car so I can write it when I leave each day! :-P

So, my 11 week total up until this point is.....

294.03miles!

That's +24.53 miles from my 11-week goal.... I'm almost a FULL WEEK AHEAD!


OMG I'm in GEORGIA!!!!! WOOOO!!!!!!

GOODBYE FLORIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!


A zoomed out look....

Still a ways to go though.....



Huzzah!! I am very happy to see that number! It kinda leads into my stolen-from-Amy idea of the random picture for tonight.....


With all of this craziness going on in EVERYONE'S lives at ANY MOMENT..... don't forget to STOP and BE AWESOME!

And, one for the road, because this Doctor knew what it was ALL ABOUT!



Sunday, September 22, 2013

Road Trip Review 9/15 - 9/21

What a week it has been! I still have that funky feeling I just can't shake, and I think I have an idea on what it is. I was talking with my new gym buddy Mary and she made a comment on how defined and toned my arms have gotten. It seems to me I have hit a sort of plateau in my fitness routine and have nothing really challenging me anymore. With Johnny's Zumba class now twice a week, I am gaining more confidence in my moves but also have noticed it getting easier for me to do it. Where I used to struggle with moves and routines I see myself stepping up to the front lines and pretty much joining in next to him during class.
I do not see a change in my measurements, and while the 16's still fit good, I just feel like I could be doing MORE. But, I don't have anything around here that interests me. Unlike my friends on the East Coast who are doing OCR's (Obstacle Course Races), there isn't a whole lot on this side, and besides... I am alone in the adventure anyway. Mary is not a runner, which is okay, but I really have no one to push me and compete with on that front. For now anyway...

Let's get it on with this week's numbers! We have hit week 10! It's a miracle!!

Sunday : Weights and core workout, plus my everyday walking = 3.50 miles
Monday : Everyday walking, plus some pre-dinner speed walking = 3.75 miles
Tuesday : Johnny Zumba, everyday walking, and some pre-zumba weights = 3.95 miles
Wednesday : bad day. I only got in my normal everyday steps = 1.75 miles
Thursday : I did some core workouts at home, about an hours worth. plus my everyday steps = 2.75 miles
Friday : Zumba, weights, and my normal everyday steps = 5.25 miles
Saturday : I hung out by the pool and managed to burn even with sunblock on. BUT I did make about 8 laps in the pool, 6 swimming and 2 running the length. It took me about an hour. plus our walks throughout the day = 3.75 miles

This week's total is....... 24.25 miles! Which is -0.25 miles from my weekly goal. Ouch. SO CLOSE!!

I did have an exciting side-trip this week. Landing outside of Jacksonville last week gave me the opportunity to stop in to the Jacksonville Zoo this week on my way through!! Go check out the pictures!!

Don't forget, if you're reading this, then you should also be reading Amy's blog too!! She is doing an awesome job and has a good idea of something fun to break her routine, I think we should encourage her to do it!! :) :)


EDIT: I forgot to include my landing point pictures for the week!!! ACK!!

I've left Jacksonville and am heading to the Florida-Georgia Line!


SOOO CLOSE!!!

I can almost smell the Georgia air!!


Road Trip Side Mission : Jacksonville Sight-Seeing!

During Week 10 of our adventure to Troutville, VA, I was wandering through the streets of Jacksonville. It is a big city, and had lots to see and do!

I stopped in to one of my favorite places to be, a ZOO!!

Here are just a few pictures!!

This is me posing just outside of the entrance. I was so excited!!



There was so much to see and do that I didn't get a chance to take many pictures. BUT!
I did want to share with you my encounter with my FAVORITE zoo animal: 
THE GIRAFFE!!

I snuck into the enclosure to get closer and was caught petting one of the baby giraffes!!




This was loads of fun and really re-sparked my motivation to keep going towards my destination of Troutville, Virginia!!


Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Road Trip Review 9/8 - 9/14

I lost a little bit of myself this week I think. It was a tough week in terms of schooling, work, and making my daily 3.5 mile goal. While I can proudly say I hit my goal, I felt like I lost a piece of myself somewhere and haven't been able to shake this feeling yet. Not really sure how else to describe it..

So let's jump in!

Sunday : On Sunday I missed zumba. My instructor, Johnny, was out of town and I really didn't have a chance to make it to the gym anyway with work so.... I did my every day normal steps for 1.75 miles and then had a nice 2 mile walk when I got home, for a daily total of 3.75 miles. (+.25 miles)

Monday : I had school in the morning and have a new way of putting in some extra UMPH into those school days (M,W,F). I take the staircase up to the second floor on the opposite side of where my class is on the far side of the building, go down one side of the main stairs, then up the other staircase, and then when I leave I go down the staircase near where my class is. Essentially I am walking up an extra flight of stairs three days a week. It burns my legs and hurts my knees some mornings, but I do it anyway! Through normal walking and a 2-mile pre-dinner walk in which I forgot my FitBit, I made my standard 3.75 miles. (+.25 miles)

Tuesday : I managed to hit up half of a spin class (I got out of work late, but Heidi, my spin instructor, is gracious enough to let me join in halfway... she normally doesn't allow that, but she must have seen the NEED on my face!). It was a rough day at work, we are down a supervisor so my hours teetered up a little this week, but I have high hopes they'll be going down as I get closer to my "vacation" (It's not a paid vacation, but merely a 5-day off stretch I requested to get some shit done around the house a little rest from the stresses of work and school. According to my spin timer I did 5 miles on the bike. Not bad. :) (+1.50 miles)

Wednesday : This was a rough day for fitness. I had class early then decided to go to our public library to study and catch up on reading for my classes. I can do all of that at home, but I've discovered that's not so good for my diet. I snack forage constantly. I counted it one day a few weeks ago and when I'm in the office studying or doing school work I am usually up 5-6 times per hour to snack or grab a handful of this or that. So, at the library I can't do that. Two days a week after class I'll be going, not only because it's pantry-free, but also the quiet ambiance is better than my cat and dog running crazy around the house. I didn't get anything exercise wise, just my 1.75 mile daily steps. (-1.75 miles)

Thursday : Thursday was a GREAT day. One of my zumba buddies, Mary, and I have started to see that cardio isn't going to cut it if we want to lose our guts! So, we decided to weight train a few days a week in order to burn that excess fat! This was the first day and it was awesome. I brought along my Biggest Loser workouts, and we spent an hour going through and working our arms, legs, and core. We have a new mantra we use whenever we start to whine: NO PAIN, NO GAIN! Nothing new or fancy, but we say it quite a bit! After we were done we spent another 45 minutes on the treadmill getting to know each other better. She's still really an "acquaintance" but I'm sure she'll move to "friend" status soon enough as we get to know each other better! :) Today's totals were: 4.00 miles (+.50 miles)

Friday : Day 2 with Mary. We continued our workout with an hour of weights followed by an hour of zumba. I was sore from the day before, but not enough that I needed rest. It's like my muscles knew of this type of training once before and were re-awakened by it. They were happy, as was my soul. It felt good to know if I kept this up I'd have that flat tummy in no time! Today's totals were: 4.50 miles (+1.00 mile)

Saturday : Mary wanted to try mat pilates, and the cardio club (read: big studio with no weights) that my mother-in-law goes to was having a grand re-opening to celebrate an expansion, so they were offering free classes. We thought the mat pilates was at 11, so we shot for that... and discovered that Mary read the schedule wrong! Piloxing (pilates + boxing) was at 11! So, we gave that a shot! Holy MOLEY! I was feeling it not even halfway through! I also had a pretty fitness intensive day at work, on top of the 1.75 miles I get to record for my everyday walking I did spend almost 90 minutes moving cribs and picking up heavy furniture upstairs, which I am going to count as 1.5 miles of fitness. I had to buy a new shirt as mine was DRENCHED! Totals for this day were: 4.25 miles (+.75 miles)


So, totals for this week are:

27.00 miles!
((+2.25 mi))

Not my best week, but not a bad week to say the least. If you want to see something TOTALLY impressive, pop on over to Amy's blog and see how badly she kicked my ass this week!!!

For the 9-week total I have walked 249.03 miles
The 9-week goal at this point it 220.5 miles
I am ahead of the game by +28.8 miles!! WOOT!

Where in the world is Julie resting this week?

I am so close to Jacksonville! I am stopped in
a little park for a rest and some S'mores!


"The road so far" (for you, Amy!)


If I squint I can almost
see my destination!!! :)


This week I have a feeling I'm going to hit a nice stride in my fitness. I am learning to control my eating habits, especially escaping the temptation of my pantry by going to the library for studying.

And now, to follow in the footsteps of my bestie, a random picture!





Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Road Trip Review 9/1 - 9/7

Week 8 is gone, and I am still on the trail to Troutville, VA!!

Up until this week, I have travelled 194.33 miles. WOOT! I am above my goal by around 23 miles!! YAY!!

So, this week's totals were:

Sunday : 3.5mi
Monday : 3.5mi
Tuesday : 5.5mi
Wednesday : 5.25mi
Thursday : 3.5mi
Friday : 2.5mi
Saturday : 3.95mi

Week's total: 27.70mi
Week's goal: 24.50mi

+3.20 miles!

YAY ME!

This is going to be short and sweet, so here's my landing point...

A faraway view...
Man I still look like I have a long way to go!



A closer look. I'm apparently sleeping in the river this week.... :)

See that thick red line?! Yeah.... That's the Florida-Georgia line.
Man, I feel like a song... maybe I should roll my windows down and cruise?


This week I have been a slacker. It's Tuesday and I am just getting around to finishing this. To my defense, I have three classes and a really crappy job that have been taking up my time, but I also had company this weekend so I wasn't near the computer much. I'm hoping to cross into Georgia this week, and have some fun picking peaches!

Go report to Amy's page and tell her what a slacker I have been. THEN, go make sure you give her EXTRA cheer this week because she was SOOO CLOSE to hitting her goal, that I just KNOW she'll make it this week!!!! :) :) :)