Monday, August 26, 2013

Road Trip Review 8/18 - 8/24

Week 6! WHEW!

Sunday : (yes, these numbers are REAL!!) 13.50miles
Monday : (this one, too!) 15.75miles
Tuesday : 3.07miles
Wednesday : 4.93miles
Thursday : 10.12miles
Friday : 3.5miles
Saturday : 1.92miles

Total : 52.79miles
Goal : 24.50miles
Difference: +28.29miles!!

Now, to explain the outrageous numbers for Sunday, Monday, and Thursday... I went to the gym like normal Sunday morning, but my normal zumba class was full. So, I had two options... hit the free weights/treadmill/etc, but without music because I expected to be in a class... OR take a spin class that was happening in the other room. I chose the spin class. And boy am I hooked!!

It hurts, don't get me wrong. The racing seats are designed for Olive Oyl, not a fat-bottomed girl like myself, but I felt the BURN through my legs and abs too! So, those numbers are actually the numbers from the bicycle according to how far I pedaled.

YAY!

But, my knees hated me for it. So, I will only be taking one spin class a week from now on, if I even take one. No, it's not because I think it gives me an unfair advantage, but my knees can't handle too much stress put on them.

So, let's look back:

Week 1 : -6.27mi
Week 2 : -4.00mi
Week 3 : -3.64mi
Week 4 : +7.00mi
Week 5 : -1.54mi
Week 6 : +28.29mi

Total so far: 166.34mi
Goal so far: 147.00mi
Difference: +19.34miles!

And where am I now?!?!?

I'm past half-way through the state! I can almost smell the
peaches from here! (Georgia is known for its peaches..)


Gives you a pretty good perspective!




If you have not already, go CHEER ON!!! my partner in crime, Amy, for her AWESOME performance this week in making her goal!!! :) :) :)

We are fast approaching our halfway-to-halfway points, at which time you might get something special from me! :-)

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Road Trip Review 8/11 - 8/17

Well, let's see what we have here. Last week I did not post a map, so this week's map will look much more like I'm a superstar than I truly am.

We are 5 weeks in to the 25-ish week challenge, so a fifth of the way. Holy cow!!

So, let's do an overall review:

We started July 14th, and have been at this thing for 5 weeks now.

Troutville, VA (our meeting point) is 595miles (957.6km) away.

In order to meet at our halfway mark on December 31, 2013, we'd have to walk 3.5mi (5.6km) each day!!



Now let's review my first 5 weeks:

Week 1 : -6.27mi
Week 2 : -4.5mi
Week 3 : -3.64mi
Week 4 : +7.00mi

Total deficit : -7.41miles



How did I do this week?

Sunday: 2.00miles
Monday: 4.50miles
Tuesday: 4.92miles
Wednesday: 0.00miles (BOOOOOOOO)
Thursday: 4.42miles
Friday: 5.08miles
Saturday: 2.04miles

Total: 22.96miles
Goal: 24.50miles
Deficit: -1.54miles


Total 5 Week Deficit: -8.95miles

Well.... Not as good as I thought. But, for week 6 I have big plans! Muahahaha!

So, where did I end up??

113.55miles total travelled through 5 weeks!!

I am bunkering down for the night at a State Park! YAY!

A closer look at where I stopped. Wachula and Avon Park are places
my husband has driven to many times, so I still feel like I'm
not really GOING anywhere.... know what I mean?



Well, I'm about a third of the way out of the state!
Looks like I'm about to get wet through some of the
little lakes and ponds that scatter the middle of the state.



Happy trails everyone!! (BTW - Pop on over and give Amy some love!! She spent the weekend in the wilderness and I think might have come back a little more wild than when she went in!! LOL)

Monday, August 12, 2013

Road Trip Review 8/4 - 8/10

I'm going to make this short and sweet, with no map for this week (that I will upload at the time of the post, but I may edit and include it later)



Sunday: 4.5 miles (1.75mi "everyday" / 2.75mi bike ride)
Monday: 3.5 miles (30min weed pulling = .5mi, 1hr zumba = 1mi, 1.75mi "everyday", 1mi bike ride, 30min core workout on balance ball = .5mi)
Tuesday: 5.5mi (3.5mi bike ride, 2mi jog)
Wednesday: 4.5mi (1.75mi "everyday", 1hr walk AM = 1mi, 1.75mi jog late PM)
Thursday: 4.5mi (1.75 "everyday", 1hr step class = 1mi, 1hr dance class = 1mi, .75mi dog walk)
Friday: 4.5mi (3.5mi bike ride, 1hr zumba class = 1mi)
Saturday: 4.5mi (1hr zumba = 1mi, 2hr weed pulling/gardening = 2mi, 1.5mi "everyday")


Total: 31.50mi
Goal: 24.50mi
Difference: +7.00miles


Total Weekly Deficit (as of Week 3) : -14.41miles
Total Weekly Deficit (as of this week) : -7.41miles



I would just like to say that if you put yourself in the right mindset, you can do anything. I told myself last week that a 14mile deficit is NOT ACCEPTABLE. And that I need to make up at least 1mile everyday to make up for it. Well, with the exception of Monday, when I had family needs to attend to, I made and/or surpassed my goal every day! I managed to cut my deficit in HALF!! YAY!

Starting Thursday I had decided that why pay for a gym membership if I'm not going to use it?! So, I started using it again! I have been to the gym every day since Thursday and this week have planned out classes to take to make sure I get there every day. Plus, if I'm feeling stressed (which will no doubt happen as my boss just fired 2 cashiers we already couldn't afford to lose....) I have my gym bag packed and I can just call John and let him know I'm not coming home right away!

I'm actually on my way to the gym right now, which is why there is no map up, but I will have to upload it later today or possibly tomorrow.... we'll see what happens!

Happy week everyone!

Monday, August 5, 2013

Wants and Needs

So, a small and significant issue happened with my mother recently. On Thursday (7/26) my mother was admitted to the ER with severe (read: SEVERE) abdominal pain that radiated into her back and arms. For those with some medical training, this is a classic sign that her gallbladder has gone bad. This issue, usually insignificant, turned out to be horrendously dangerous, and she ended up having emergency surgery Saturday night. It lasted more than 4 hours because the surgeon tried to go in through scopes and having found Mom's gallbladder had become gangrenous, decided to open her up and remove it the classic way, which would require a more in-depth post-op treatment.

She remained sedated and entubated through Saturday night into Sunday in the ICU, mainly to help her body recover from the death-pleadingly-horrific pain she had been in the past 2 days, and so she actually got some rest from it. She was moved to a regular room on Monday (7/29) and was on a regular diet by Wednesday. On Thursday she was allowed to go home, having been making great strides while in the hospital, the doctors found no reason to keep her once her abdominal drain was showing clear liquids and she was able to use the restroom without pain.

What does this have to do with me? Well, my mother is only the latest of my maternal family to have her gallbladder removed. Both of her sisters, my grandmother, and even my grandfather have all had theirs removed, which means there is a good chance I will need mine removed some day as well. The pathologist found no real reason as to why her gallbladder had suddenly and violently flared up in a bout of gangrene and severe pancreatitis, but it almost cost my mother her life. So, as I read up on classic gallbladder symptoms and prepared myself for what I hope will be my only ever hospital stay (so far I have been blessed to have only ever suffered one minor broken bone in elementary school and no hospital stays).

Again, where is this going? Aside from the fact that it is now 11PM on a Monday, my husband is (hopefully) fast asleep in the bedroom as he has to be up and at work at 4AM tomorrow, I am suffering with my first bout of insomnia since high school. It was a trip with my mother today to her regular doctor that has my mind a-racing. Her doctor said "Chris, you are extremely lucky to be alive. The doctor, and even the surgeon, didn't think you were going to make it out of surgery."

What.

The.

FUCK.

WHO SAYS THAT?! I mean sure, it's a valid observation, and sure, we are adults and can handle hard truths, but Jesus H Christ if my doctor said that to be I'd be looking for a new doctor. Calling it a close call is good enough for me. I need sugar coating when it comes to my own mortality, thank you very much. But, it really got me spooked. My mother is not going to be there for me forever. I will outlive her (most likely). Some day, she is going to die, and that freaks me the fuck out. I need her to live forever. As much as she is a pain in my ass most times, and as much as we have our differences and how thick-headed she is that I need to explain how to use a computer time and time again, I will only ever have one mother, and she is it.

So do I really want to bring someone into this world that will inevitably be thinking the same of me? Do I want a child to sit by my bed in a hospital as I lay there beeping and in pain, begging for death, and have to come with the real life terms of my own and their mortality? Do I want to see my life turn into youth, pouring from me to this innocent vessel of my creation? Right now, the answer is no. I don't want someone to prematurely mourn for my death and think about how short life is only 2 years into their own adult life.... I don't want a child to have to see the things that I saw and carry with them the burden of what they should do if I am not able to get my own affairs in order.





Today I used the BMI calculator at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to find out what my BMI is. This actually ties into the doctor's visit my mother had today as she dropped about 20 pounds during her hospital stay, and is now officially UN-Categorized as obese! In fact, she is actually fallen so far down that she is on the borderline between just "overweight" and "normal weight". HOLY COW!!

She obviously did not do it the ideal way, getting sick and all, but it is about 20 or so pounds she doesn't have to worry about losing. AND- she's been cigarette-free since her initial intake in the hospital, 11 days! Not bad for someone who has smoked since she was 13! That should also help her keep off some of that weight, and probably lose more!




Here I am, only down about...... 5 pounds since last November. WHAT?!?!?!
Yup. A blog post from November says I was 210, and I'm 205 this week. So, I've yo-yo-ed all friggin year. Sure, I've dropped 2 pant sizes, but then that means I built some muscle.... or gained fat back somewhere other than my waist.

My biggest want is to be healthy and free from the addictions I have let myself into to: junk food, soda, etc. My biggest NEED is to change my lifestyle and change it for good. I went back through last year's blog posts to see what I was doing right and wrong, and it seems that the gym was all my right, and food was all of my wrong.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I'm going to eat only unprocessed food. So, no canned salsa, cream cheese, soda, ketchup, etc. I will only eat "paleo" for the day. I want to see how my body reacts to it. I have a fridge STOCKED FULL of fruits and veggies, and I have almonds, whole grain rolled oats, fresh homemade cheeses and applesauce, salad, homemade FRESH lime-vanilla dressing.... I have enough food to not pop open a can ALL DAMN DAY! So, let's see what happens. I shall turn into a rabbit!

This really tapered off towards the end. But, I'm pretty down right now. The doctor's visit today has me scared, and work has not been any easier. I haven't been to the gym on a regular basis, and John really doesn't make me feel any better when he criticizes me for needed/taking 7-hours of sleep at night. Just because he can function on 3-5 hours doesn't mean we all can. And not all of us are early risers either. But, I was at one point. Last year there was a time where the gym and the early AM were my friends. Maybe I can get back to that?! I have a 3.5mile goal to hit every day, plus an additional mile each day to help cut into that deficit. I WILL make my destination by the end of this year!

Also, it's the beginning of August, so time to set a goal I think. Something tangible I can work towards. I am 205lbs right now. I want to be UNDER 200 by the end of the month. Yup. Five whole pounds is what I need to lose. Nice and easy. Well, sorta.

Night y'all. I'm off to try and find some sleep.

Road Trip Review (7/28 - 8/3)

Well, another week has gone by and further away I get from home. Let's review, shall we?

Sunday: 1.86 miles
Monday: 2.00 miles
Tuesday: 3.50 miles
Wednesday: 3.00 miles
Thursday: 3.50 miles
Friday: 3.50 miles
Saturday: 3.50 miles


Total: 20.86 miles
Goal: 24.50 miles
Deficit: -3.64 miles

Total 3 Week Deficit: -14.41 miles


Well, looking at those numbers I feel alittle down. I knew I had missed my goal for each week so far, but 15 miles down for the total? Ouch. So, that means to me that I need to step it up and walk some more! And ride my bike! And get to the gym! Hop to it, Julie!!

This week's map:


The bend in the red line is my latest progress...



A zoomed out look. The Green dot is where I left off
last week, so I finally made it to Arcadia!


Arcadia. A town filled with mostly Hispanic people. So, I'm stopped for the night and most likely eating a tummy-grumbling meal of pork and rice and beans. (YUK!)

I'm still about 15 miles down from where I should be, but I am determined to make up at least HALF of those miles this week!!

How did you get out and shake it this week??

Don't forget to root my partner in crime, Amy, along her journey, too!!