6 Miles & A Splatter of Rain

To explain the title:

I was at a training conference in Chicago this past week, and was talking to another participant, Somer, during the lunch. She mentioned that she was training for a marathon. When I asked her how long her run was the next day, she chirped, "Six miles! Want to join me?"

Um.

Well, sure, why not? Even though I hadn't run six miles (or five, or four) in one fell swoop since my time in Track & Field at Edwardsville Junior High School (Go Wildcats!), I decided to give it a go.

We met at 5:30 to run along the lake. It actually was not as painful as I imagined it to be, mostly because I was propped up by my pride (didn't want to die in front of someone I just met), encouragement from the other 500 healthy people running/biking/swimming alongside us, and the fact that if I stopped, I would have to take a taxi home and I had only $3 stuffed into my sportsbra.

The next day wasn't too atrocious. My right knee was groaning, but that's the price of getting older. That part stinks.

So I'm taking my running shoes and clothes everywhere I travel. I've found it's a fantastic way to see a city up-close (trust me, I don't run so fast as to miss the sights) and gets the lead out after sitting in a room all day. Haven't noticed a fabulous weight loss or major toning yet, but it does make me feel happy. (When it's all over.)

So.. the splatter part. TS Fay was bearing down on Tampa Bay when I left for Chicago last week. In fact, I rearranged my flight to get out of Tampa before it was supposed to hit. So after worrying that I'd return to a roofless house, Jason called to assure me that the week had been completely sunny and clear. So much for Fay.

Next up: Tropical Storm Gustav. Stay tuned.

Batten Down the Hatches

Tropical Storm Fay is on its way! It's headed straight for Tampa Bay by way of Cuba, and should make landfall on Tuesday. IF.. it doesn't peter out somewhere along the way.

I'm supposed to fly out to Chicago on Tuesday AM. At the moment it's sunny and clear, which gives me hope that it might still happen.

However we're packing up the hurricane kits (food, water, cage for Bandit, emergency toliet paper) anyway just to be sure.

We'll keep you posted.

Eating Healthy is No Fun

Friends from Morningstar Church have embarked upon the Six Pack Abs program, a healthy eating/exercise initiative. Jason and I have gotten sucked into the foray, and decided that we should change some of our rather junky eating habits. Not that we're chowing down on Dairy Queen Oreo Blizzards every night (we wish), but we could do with some changes. Due to our desk jobs and creeping ages, we've noticed a bit more of the squish. "Squish" is what I call areas of the body that aren't hooked up with your metabolism anymore.

More fresh fruits and veggies have made their way into our house. I'm generally eating 2 vegetarian meals a day, with chicken or fish thrown in for dinner, for protein. Our grocery bill has skyrocketed with the cost of fresh foods, but it's cheaper than a hospital bill due to heart disease or diabetes, yes?

The hardest part for me has been cutting out sweets. Oh how I love you, 3 Musketeers. How I miss you, York Peppermint Patty. With a few "cut me some slack" moments, I've managed to stave off processed sugar.

A colleague at work pointed me to a terrific calorie and nutrition tracking site (free, bonus!) called Nutrition Data. This week I'm shifting my meal tracking from a notebook to this site.

With this has been a pretty hefty exercise routine. I've started doing an athelete "boot camp" on Saturday mornings, which kicks my butt from here to the moon. Jas is running nearly a 5k every other day (to the public library and back) and his legs look great! I'm puffing through 2 miles of run/walk in addition to weight lifting. So far I haven't noticed quite the physical change that Jas is experiencing, dang that testosterone! It's so unfair.

So, as long as we can keep it going, it'll become a habit. I know we're feeling more energized and sleeping better at night. It's all worth it in the end.