Hello everyone. I'm back, again. I know I've been terrible about posting, but I'm gone so much that it's hard to squeeze it in. I was gone all last week, but I believe I'm home for a week or two before leaving again......and I'm going to try to do better at posting!!
How was everyone's weekend? Good I hope. Hubby and I went hiking in PA on Saturday. The weather was so hot, but on the mountain and through the trails, it wasn't bad at all. We took some "moderate" trails, but next time we're going for the "challenging" routes!!
Has anyone seen Dark Knight yet? Around our house it's been sold out for almost every show. If you've seen it, please give me your review.
I really need to get to the gym this week. It's so hot and hard to get motivated, though,.....sigh....... I sure wish I was a morning person and could get up and do it before work. I would have to get up around 4:30 to be able to get in a workout, shower, and get to work in time. Yeah, I just don't see that happening!!
Is anyone planning for any races for late summer or fall? I need to get busy training for my 10 miler in October. Please send me some MOTIVATION and ENTHUSIASM. I just can't seem to find my mojo lately. You know what usually helps? A fitness magazine. That does it.....tonight I'm going to go home and read my Runner's World and get some motivation and enthusiasm.
Happy Friday, everyone. I'm glad it's Friday, but it's going to be a short weekend for me. I go out of town again for work on Sunday.
But I'm going to do my best to enjoy Friday night and Saturday. It should be quiet around the house. 4 of our 5 kids will be gone with their "other" parent starting tonight, so we will be down to only having the 7-year-old for a few weeks. We will barely know how to act having so few people around.
It's been a hectic summer with lots of visitors. For my husband's retirement, we had 13 adults, 12 kids, 5 dogs, and a guinea pig........enough said, right? It was a little crazy!
Although I will miss the kids being together, some quiet time will be welcomed.
Does anyone own a 2008 Honda Accord EX-L? If so, let me know how you like it. We're thinking of leasing one......I'll let you know if it happens.
I know I've been gone forever again; sorry!! I can't believe the year is halfway gone already. It's going by in a blink.
So some of you are probably wondering where I've been. Well, I went out of town at the end of March and didn't come home until May. As you can imagine, between my surgery in February and being away from home so long, I've gained a little weight. I'm trying to get things back under control now and have started getting my running skills back. I'm already signed up for the Army 10-miler in October so I better get busy quick, huh?
My hubby retired from the military in May, so we were busy with the planning of the ceremony and the party. Everything went beautifully and his family came up for that. Hubby is now in the process of finding a new career. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.
We took the whole family on a cruise to the Bahamas in June! What a blast!! While on the cruise, we won a cruise for two in a raffle drawing, so hubby and I will soon enjoy another cruise, but this time by ourselves. I don't know if it will be as much fun without the kids, but we're going to give it a shot......
As far as the cruise, surprisingly, I only gained 8 ounces. I was very happy with that!! It was a 7-day cruise and we ate like the world was going to run out of food in that week. ;) But to help compensate, we only took the elevator one time during the whole week, which was on the first day when we had our luggage. We took the stairs for the entire week, did a lot of walking, and swam/snorkeled on our excursions, so I guess that really helped burn off all those darned buffet calories!!
How was everyone's 4th? We took the kids camping and went to Busch Gardens for the whole day. It rained for most of the day, but we still had a really good time. The fireworks went on as scheduled and were beautiful.
I think that about covers the last 3 months! ;) How is everyone doing?? I will catch up very soon with you guys.
Thanks for checking in on me. It has been a crazy few months!!
I was out of town for work for over a month at the end of year and then ran right into Christmas. In January, I was trying to catch up with the family and still busy with work. Then came February and I had a hysterectomy and bladder surgery. I've been recovering and enjoying a spell off from work.
The surgery went well. The hard part was not being able to run, bike, lift weights, et cetera. I've put on some weight and it sucks!! I'm 6 weeks post-op and still have 7 more weeks until I can run again. Lord knows by that time I will have forgotten how to run and will have lost all stamina. I'm a little bummed over the whole thing. I can take long walks now and can lift up to 20 pounds, so it's time to get busy, right?
Well, my recovery time ends on Monday, and guess what? I'm out of town for about a month come Tuesday! Argh!!
I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in so long. I do think about you guys all the time. I have so many people to check in on and so much to talk about!!!
For starters, thanks for all the posts on your dream size. I promise to respond soon on that poll.
In the meantime, I've been out of town for nearly a week and a half on a business trip to Atlanta. I left home last Wednesday and I leave Atlanta tomorrow to drive back home. It has been temptation week from hell.
I have been soooo busy, working 13-14 hours a day since last Thursday. I'm exhausted, feeling fat, and have only worked out one time. I vowed before I left that I would try to workout like crazy, but after working 13 to 14 hours, the last thing you have the energy for is working out!!
I'm so scared to see what the scale says when I get home. Since last Thursday, the hotel staff brings us snacks about three times a day in BULK. I'm talking coffee, muffins, candy, bagels, fruit, you name it!! I did pretty good on that end. NO CANDY, Yeah, me. But I did have fruit and a few slices of banana bread throughout the week. Being so busy, all I had time to eat were the sandwiches at the 24-hour cafe. I'm sure the calorie content on those things was not pretty!!
I also have had about 5 glasses of wine this week just to take the edge off some of the stress...can you say more unnecesary calories? I haven't had nearly enough water because we don't get that many breaks to go potty!! On one good note, I do try to take the stairs instead of the elevators and have done sit-ups in my room before bed......but I don't think that is going to make up for it.
Well, I still have tons of work to do before I leave tomorrow....but just wanted to pop in and vent!! Thanks for listening.
I wanted to take a poll of what everyone's dream size is. When I was as large as a size 16, I used to think, "if I could only get down to a size 10, I would be so happy." Of course, size 10 came, and guess what? I wasn't happy. Next it was, "If I could only get to a size 8, life would be wonderful." Again, 8 came, and guess what? Life wasn't wonderful as I had hoped. And it continued from there.
Are women every really happy with their weight or their size? We always find something to criticize about ourselves or something to complain about.
Now, I'm between a size 2 and 6 (depending on the brand), but generally a size 4. Well, size 4 is hard to find! I never thought I would complain about shopping for clothes or be unhappy at a size 4, but I still have the nerve to complain. My husband quickly reminds me that I shouldn't be complaining about not finding a size 4 pair of pants. He's right. I already take my size for granted. I'm vowing right now to be HAPPY where I am, to be happy about everything I have accomplished, and to be happy with myself.
So my question to you is: What is your dream size? When will you be happy with your body? When will you be comfortable in your own skin?
I am comfortable with my body now. I tend to find things to criticize such as my saggy behind, but still, overall, when I look in the mirror, I am happy with my body and myself. I've worked hard to get where I'm at and I need to remember where I came from!!
Hubby and I went to a friend's house for a wine tasting party Saturday night. So I was wondering, how many calories are in about 8 glasses (well, halfway filled glasses) of wine???
I haven't weighed myself since Saturday because I drank a lot of wine plus ate a lot of food. The theme was Africa and Australia, so each person brought a wine and food dish specific to those countries.
The food was all delicious, but some of the wine was a little dry for my taste. But of course I drank it anyway! ;) I have to admit that I was feeling pretty darn good by the time we left the party. Hubby is not much of a drinker so he poured most of his samples into my glass....so I guess now that I mention that, it was probably 8 glasses that were 3/4 of the way filled....
We went for a short run yesterday (3.5 miles) and then played racquetball for about an hour and 15 minutes. I actually won a game this time! I'm getting better already. It is so much fun playing racquetball. Of course, the run and the racquetball didn't come close to making up for my indulgences on Saturday!
I hope everyone had a great weekend!! I'll check in on you soon.
Well, I broke down and paid to join a gym again. With winter coming, I know I won't be running outside as much, so I need to make sure I can keep myself moving!!
I have a treadmill and gym in the basement, but sometimes I'm not disciplined enough to go down there to workout....how crazy is that? But if I get dressed and drive myself to the gym, then I usually make sure it was worth my drive and put in a good workout!
They had a special going on which included 6 personal training sessions, 5 tanning sessions, and several other perks for signing up in October. I couldn't pass that up!! Hubby and I went last night and played racquetball for an hour and then did an ab class.
Uhm, why didn't someone tell me that racquetball was so much fun?? I had never played before and hubby loves playing. It just happened that I ran across the cutest pink (supports breast cancer) racquetball bag that included the racquet, balls, and goggles with the bag.....so I bought it on my way home and told hubby to reserve a court. I really enjoyed playing! I'm not very good yet, but give me time. ;) Hubby whooped my tail on the first game, reasonably beat me on the second game, but I won the last one. LOOK OUT, HUBBY!
I want to say thank you to everyone who posted support about my personal problem. :) I do appreciate it.
I went to the spa tonight and got a cherry peel. Ahh, my face feels so clean and moisturized. The facial was relaxing, but would have been more relaxing if it hadn't been cold in the room!
Ok, ladies, as hard as this is going to be......I need to admit a problem I've been having. I've been leaking urine, especially when I run. UGH! I've been having to wear a pad when I run. How horrible is that?
I pee all the time and I'm thirsty all the time and I can't make it through the night without getting up to pee.
I've gone to one doctor and he said he thought at first that I would be a good candidate for bladder surgery. Then later he said the surgery might make it worse. Uhm, I don't want that!!
He started me on Detrol and that has helped decrease the number of visits to the potty, but has not slowed down the volume.
He made me keep a bladder diary for a couple of days (intake and output) and said that I pee way too much, but I also drink way too much. My urine test showed that my urine is extremely diluted.
Next, I had to go an entire day without drinking anything!! Do you know how hard that was for me? Extremely hard!! There is hardly a time where I don't have a water bottle in my hand. I made it about 22 hours without liquid but then I felt so sick that I had to drink. Anyway, I still had a normal person's urine output, strange considering I didn't drink. What does that mean?
He also mentioned that it could be diabetes insipidus (the thirst/excessive urination part). I looked it up on the Internet and it does sound like part of the problem.
So he referred me to a urogynecologist (for the leakage) and a nephrologist (for the excessive urination) for further evaluation. I should also mention that my dad died of kidney cancer in his early 40s, so that makes me a little nervous about this whole situation!!
Today I went and saw the urogynecologist. He was an older guy and he said I would be a perfect candidate for the bladder surgery. He also mentioned doing a hysterectomy at the same time for fibroid issues.
I have to go back to see the urogynecologist in November for further eval, and I go to the nephrologist at the end of this month.
Does anyone have or know anyone who has similiar urinary problems or know more about diabetes insipidus?
Sunday was my Army 10-miler race. It was hot and humid! There were 26,000 people registered. Although I'm not sure how many people showed up, it looked like a million lined up for the race! People for as far as the eye could see.
Hubby and I signed up for the race a long time ago when our running times were even slower, so we were slated to be in the back of the pack. We didn't end up going to the back because we were running late (due to the metro being packed) and it would have taken forever to weave through the people to get to our area.
Instead, we just grabbed an empty spot in the 10:00 per mile pace group and started with them. I sure am glad that we did because had we started at the back of the race, our time would have been horrible. There were so many people that it was hard to pass!
I found the race to be very unorganized. This year they increased the race size by 10,000 people. Last year's race was 16,000 and this year's race was 26,000. Well, I don't think they realized what a difference that would make. There was not enough water, not enough gatorade, and not enough volunteers!! They ran out of gatorade very early and there were not enough people to hand out the water. You had to basically stop and wait in line to get water. This is not how it usually works! There are typically so many people handing out water that you can keep a jog going and grab it from their hands on the fly.
I almost decided to run this race without my water bottle. I am so glad that I decided against that or I would have been screwed!!
There were so many people falling out, especially around mile 9. After arriving at the finish line, the announcer kept calling for medics, and there seemed to be a shortage of medics to go around too. We saw a lady passed out on the bridge at mile 9 and it made me worry that I might pass out too. By that point, I was feeling dehydrated too. I had brought a smaller water bottle with me thinking I would use the water stations, so I didn't take in as many fluids as I normally do.
Hubby, on the other hand, was feeling fantastic and was trying to convince me to sprint from around mile 8 to the finish line. Uhm, no, not happening!
We took fewer walk breaks this time, only stopping at every 2nd mile instead of every mile, so I knew that once we started mile 8 that there would be no more walk breaks before the finish line....and shortly thereafter is when he was coaxing me to go faster. Of course, I forgot to mention, that between miles 8 and 10 are several hills and there is no shade because you are running on the highway!
I did end up sprinting the last portion when I knew we were approaching the finish line. Hubby and I had previously agreed to hold hands crossing the finish line, so as we grew closer, he grabbed my hand and began to drag me at a rate my feet were not going to keep up with!! I yelled at him and let go of his hand for fear that the cameras would capture a picture of me falling on my face!! He slowed down a tad, grabbed my hand again, and we finished the race at a chip time of 1 hour, 40 minutes, and 47 seconds. We were hoping to be under 1:39, but given the heat, lack of fluids, and shear volume of runners, we are both still satisfied with our times. Our pace was 10:04 per mile. Overall, we finished 9,404th and 9,405th, not bad since we just started racing this year.
There were numerous members of the military amputee team running this race. What a feeling of motivation I would get when running near these guys!! If they can do it without legs, I can certainly do it with two legs! Every time we would approach one of these incredible men, the entire flock of people running in our area, would just break out in claps and cheers for him. It was the greatest part of the race to see these young men being so courageous and inspirational. I would get goosebumps and a lump in my throat seeing them running and their buddies running with them and cheering them on.
My 6-year-old ran the 100-meter race. He was super excited and did really well. All the kids received medals, and he was thrilled to get one. He wore his medal to school yesterday to show his teacher and friends. He's arleady asking when he can do another race! ;)
I'm sure you've heard by now that a runner died in the race. He was only in his 20's. It's terribly sad to hear that news. I haven't heard the results of the autopsy yet.
