I thought I lost my iPod Nano!

Talk about feeling like I lost an arm!

Yesterday, I noticed the side pocket of my gym bag was open and NO iPOD! I looked everywhere but nothing. I quickly called the my gym and asked if someone turned in an iPod. Figured since that was the last place I used it, I have most likely dropped it somewhere in the locker room. They didn't have it but they said they'll keep a look out for it.

Well, it got me thinking. Maybe, this will be a good excuse to get the new iPod Nano with the skinnier body and cool colors. I have the first generation one, which was only available in black & white when I bought it. I was already drooling at the prospect of getting the hot pink one and plotting of a way to sneak out of work in the middle of the day to purchase the hot pink iPod Nano at the nearby Circuit City. What can I say, I'm an iPod whore. ;-)

But alas, it wasn't meant to be!

I got in this morning to find a voicemail from the gym telling me they found my iPod. Oh well! The way I see it, I don't need the extra expense. Especially considering I just bought a car and I haven't even made the firsts monthly payment yet. LOL.

Speaking of colorful iPod, did you see the new hot colors for the iPod Shuffle? Again, I got the boring silver one coz the colors were not available back then. I swear Apple does this to me all the time!

Nothing much going on. Still working, still working out, and still running. I have also been watching American Idol and actually paying attention since it's now the top 24. All I can say is, send the all the guys home and keep the girls! Well, except a couple of the girls who were beyond horrible. The best singers were on the girls side. And OMG, Lakisha! I saw Dreamgirls a couple of months ago and I thought Lakisha did Jennifer proud with her rendition of "And I am Telling You I'm Not Going". But anything can happen so we'll just have to see.

I'm very happy to say that I'm looking forward to the running break this week. According to this training schedule I'm following (week 6), I'm only supposed to run 5K this weekend! Woohoo! My legs can definitely use the break. BUT, I am increasing my mileage next week to 4.5 miles on the weekdays and 7 miles for my weekend long run. I'm scared!

Today, I ran a 10K!!!

I think that's worth repeating.

Today, I ran a 10K!!!

6.25 miles to be exact. That's my longest run to date! Granted, it's on the treadmill (1% incline), but it's still all good. I was experimenting with hydration & refueling for longer runs, so I took walk breaks every 2 miles. My total time is 66:12 (10:34 min/miles), which I think is still pretty good. My legs felt like lead at the end though, so I made sure I stretched real good.

Oh, and I found this really nifty website called Running Ahead. You can log in your running miles and other workouts, then you can link it to your blog (see sidebar). It's all free too. There's a course mapping function on it too, like mapmyrun.com or gmappedometer.com. Another cool feature is you can also track the mileage on your running shoes so you know when to replace them. Cool, huh? I still have to retroactively enter my past workouts so it gives a complete picture.

As for the shoveling, it totally sucked! It looks like we got a foot of icy snow. Took me 3 painful hours of shoveling on Valentine's Day. Yuck! I was so sore! But, I was proud of myself the next day coz I still ran 4 miles. My friend thought I was nuts! I'll take that as a complement, thank you. ;)

That's it! Hope you all had a great weekend! Oh, and Happy President's Day tomorrow!

Take out the shovel!

We are now officially under a winter storm warning! Woohoo!!! Our first "real" snow! A whopping 3"-6" by the end of the day tomorrow! LOL. Well, it supposed to get bad. We already got 2.5" then it's supposed to turn icy tomorrow morning. Driving home today wasn't too bad. Took longer than normal, but people were just driving smartly and taking their time. And my new car handled beautifully!!! I love my little SUV!

Tomorrow, I'm going to do everybody a favor and work from home. We already got the go ahead from my boss. :) So I'm going to take my time, get my cardio done in my basement, then shovel the driveway. Looks like tomorrow is extra UBWO with shoveling icy snow. I should really go out and start shoveling, but I just got back from work and I'm tired, and it's dark and cold out. ;)

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Workouts for the week so far:

Yesterday (Monday):
PM: Elliptical (20 minutes HIIT + 20 minutes MISS backwards), Abs

Today:
AM: Treadmill (5 min warm-up + 4 miles running + 2 min cool-down), Leg Strengthening Exercises
PM: UBWO (to be done tonight)

My New Baby!!!

Yes, I finally traded in my little black 1999 Honda Civic Coupe with over 180,000 miles with a brand new red 2007 Honda CR-V 4WD! As much as I love my new car, I felt kind of sentimental as I drove off from the dealer parking lot while catching my last glimpse of my old car. I didn't think it was going to be so hard, but it felt like my dog died. Other the the noises that I started hearing recently, my old car was really good to me! It handled well on near-misses, drove through snow storms, floods, hails, etc. But it's all for the good. At least this is one less thing to worry about now, right?

Oh get this, speaking of near miss, I almost got into an accident Friday afternoon on my way home - the same day I was due to pick up my new car! I was driving pass a traffic light in which I had the right of way (green light on my direction) when the car on the opposite lane somehow decided to make a left turn while I was just about to cross the intersection. Almost hit me too! Idiot driver! Surprisingly, I wasn't shaken or anything. I was pissed and more concerned at the thought of my car being hit as I'm about to trade it in that night, LOL.

I've forgotten how difficult it is to buy a car. I felt like I was getting an ulcer! Luckily, I had my dad there doing all the wheeling and dealing. I sealed the deal last Saturday, then picked up the new car this Friday.

So that's what I've been up to. Also, I was in training for 3 days. The training was in the city, so I was waking up much earlier than normal, driving to the train station, then taking the train to the city. I don't know how people do this everyday! It is just exhausting! The first day of training was on Wednesday and I was able to wake up early, do a 40 minutes walk on an incline, and catch the 6:48 am train to the city, so I can be in the city before 8 am. Then when I got home, I did another 40 minutes walk on an incline + Abs. Thursday and Friday - forget it! No workouts! I was just exhausted! I actually felt like I was coming down with a cold or something, which luckily didn't progress into anything serious. I think the sub-zero temperature we've been having lately didn't help either!

Eating also suffered during the training. I wasn't expecting the food to suck so bad! Usually, when you go to these big trainings, you pay big bucks, and you at least have decent meals. It was so bad even the coffee suck! The lunch one day was cheesesteaks. Then on one of the snack breaks, we had Tasty Cakes. It was really cheaply done! It was really unexpected since the training was held at one of the fancy hotels in the city! Oh well, that's done thank God!

On top of training, I still have to keep up with work. So, at the end of the day, I have to log in and follow up on emails and projects. Yuck!

The good news is my running has been going extremely well. Running 4 miles now is getting to be routine for me. Then today, I ran 5 miles! And on the treadmill too! I figured if I can overcome boredom for that long, I can run longer when it's finally nice enough to run outside. So far, no injuries! I may do LBWO tonight, just coz I wasn't able to do my 2nd one for the week.

We're supposed to get our first snow storm on Tuesday. They said it's expected to be "major", as in 6" or more. I can handle 6" but the "or more" scares me. The weather reports hasn't exactly been specific. Depending on when the snow hits us, I'll probably be working from home. But at least I'm ready to tackle the driving with my brand new spanking 4WD! LOL.

Attention!!!

You're never too old for Harry Potter! (LOL)

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Workout Log:

Wednesday:

PM: Eliptical (28 min HIIT + 7 min MISS), Abs

Thursday:

AM: Treadmill (3.75 running + 7 min walking), LSE

PM: LBWO

Eating is clean for the most part. Had to meet my friend for lunch today at a Chinese Restaurant. Not quite perfect, but I kept the portions in check. Water - check! Supplements - check!

Well, I'm tired so that's all for today!

Leg Strengthening Exercises

Or LSE for short. ;)

Here are the links:

• How To Avoid Injuries...and stay out of the doctor's office
• Runner's knee - the BIG Five - the 5 most common running injuries
• Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome Rehabilitation Exercises

Last month's article of Runner's World also had an article on this issue, so I follow the recommended exercises there too. I vary it depending on what I feel like doing that day.

Let's see, what else is up? Nothing new. It's still friggin' cold! And my car is still making noises. Now I'm hearing rattling noises everytime I press on the gas pedal after being at a complete stop. I just spoke to my Dad earlier to ask him if he's free one of these weekends to help me scope out new cars. I think I'm getting a small SUV this time, but I'll have to check out the options.

One thing that's going well is my workouts. Still staying consistent! Here are today's activities:

AM: Treadmill (3.5 miles running + 7 min. walking), LSE

PM: UBWO

I barely squeaked in UBWO. I didn't start doing it until 9:30 pm and I was tired by that time. But it has to get done!

Mountains

I heard this song for the first time this weekend and decided that I gotta' have it in my iPod playlist. (Don't you all just love YouTube?)

I love these verses:

There are times in life when you gotta crawl,

Lose your grip, trip an' fall

When you can't lean on no-one else:

That's when you find yourself

I've been around an' I've noticed that,

Walkin's easier when the road is flat

Them danged ol' hills'll get you every time

Yeah, the good Lord gave us mountains,

So we could learn how to climb

Bobby, Bobby Dunn came back from the war,

Lost his leg but they couldn't take his will

Hell bent to run in that local marathon,

He trained through the endless pain an' pills

It hurt so bad that sometimes,

He just had to cry,

He didn't stop until he crossed,

That finish line

So what's your "mountain" today? Mine was my iPod dying on me in minute 10 of my 40 minutes cardio. HA! HA!

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No rest for the lazy for me this weekend! I cleaned the house - still not completely done but I made some dent. Also cooked my BFL meals for the week. So kind of productive. Anyways, here is my workout log since my last update:

Saturday:
AM: Treadmill (4 miles running!!!! + 10 minutes walking), Leg Strengthening Exercises
Comment: Was supposed to do LBWO but got lazy and didn't get it done. :(

Sunday:
AM: LBWO
Comment: Supposedly my free day, but what can I say? It needs to get done! It must have been a good workout coz I'm feeling it today, particularly in my inner thighs which needs the most work. Must have been due to the dumbbell sumo squat. Ouch!

Today (Monday):
PM: Elliptical (20 minutes HIIT + 20 minutes MISS backwards), Abs
Comment: Like I said, iPod died on me 10 minutes into the cardio. I forgot to flip the switch to hold and it must have played while in my gym bag. But I got my cardio done! I don't need no stinkin' iPod (LOL)! And according to the machine, I burned over 600 calories. Of course it's inaccurate, but I'll still take it!

So tonight is a big TV night. 24 and Heroes are on! And I finally figured out how to set up my VCR for recording! It's been a while, but it came back to me eventually. I missed Heroes last week and NBC.com didn't post it and the SciFi channel didn't play it today like they used to. Grrr! Anyways, it's all good now! So I'm going to relax now and enjoy my shows!

The Cup of Life

Boy, what a flashback! I haven't heard this song in such a long time. But it was one of the songs played during today's spinning class. I was dying until I heard this song. I will definitely dowload this song to my iPod to add to my running/workout playlist.

So yes, I did spinning today and it kicked my ass as usual! I didn't make it to work to the 45 minute morning class, but made it to the one-hour long class around lunch time. There was no way in hell I was getting out of the house really early this morning! The temperature was in the single digits with the wind chill making it feel like it was sub-zero! Brrrr!

But get this, there were a couple of people still out running today! I saw a girl walking into the gym locker room all decked up in cold running gear. Then as I was working on abs in the stretching room, there was a guy there stretching, his many layers of cold gear outerware laying on the floor. I don't care how many cold gear running clothes you give me, but there is no way anybody is going to make go out to run in this weather! The treadmill is my best friend during the winter season.

Speaking of treadmill, I found this thread in Runner's World forum. It basically proves I'm not that only abnormal person who finds running on the treadmill harder than running outside. HA!

Also, I was talking to this guy I know from my last job. He's running the New Jersey Marathon in April, then the Philadelphia Broad Street 10-Mile Run the week after. THEN, he's also planning on running the Jefferson Distance Run (1/2 Marathon) in September. THEN the Philadelphia Marathon in November. He's built like a Kenyan but he's French (LOL). Anyways, I've seen him running on the treadmill a lot at the gym, so I'm 99% sure he did most of his training via treadmill. I also asked him if he runs outside around the winter time and he said no. He finished his last marathon in the low 4-hours range. I'm really glad to know that the treadmill is still a good tool for training in long distance runs. It will come in handy IF I ever decide (or brave enough) to do a run longer than a 5K (LOL). Unfortunately, the mind and heart is willing, but the body is not.

TGIF! Have a great weekend everybody!

M&M's

I was reading the Runner's World forum and discovered an interesting fact. Did you all know that you have to walk an entire length of a football field to burn off one M&M? There was a diet discussion going on and one of the frequent forumite, who happens to be a dietician, offered this interesting tidbit. I have to remember that next time I get a craving for chocolates!

I am EXHAUSTED! I had trouble sleeping last night. I was tired but wide awake until like 3 am. I had such trouble getting up. Now, I'm starting to feel the effect of last night's sleeplessness.

Work is still the same - stressful! I still enjoy my job though. I've been telling myself that once this whole thing is resolved, I will feel a huge sense of accomplishment in the end. ;)

In addition, I started my class again towards my Certification in Regulatory Affairs. I took a break last semester but it's time to get serious again. I swear, I'm a glutton for punishment! I should have just been satisfied with my masters degree. Why, why, why am I torturing myself further? But it's too late now. Luckily I only have 2 more classes, counting this one, before I get my certification. But the class is hard! The amount of materials I have to learn is crazy! I just printed out the lecture notes for the first half of the semester, and it almost did not fit a 3" binder! And I printed it so that it's 2 slides per page and double-sided! Did I also mention we have big textbook to go along with it? And the exams are open book. I hate open book exams coz they are almost impossible to figure out!

Oh, we got another dusting of snow today - TWICE! Once in the early morning, then it melted, then it started snowing like crazy around noon, but luckily for a short while only and it's gone now. That's okay, as long as it's nothing major I'm okay with it.

Fitness is still on track! Eating is okay. I had a small piece of cake today at work for some plant-wide celebration.

Here are my workout log for yesterday & today:

Yesterday (Wednesday):
PM: Eliptical (28 min HIIT + 7 min MISS) + Abs

Today (Thursday):
AM: Treadmill (3.5 miles running [~35 min, 5.9-6.3 mph, 1% incline] + 6 min walking), Leg Strengthening Exercises (only partly done)
PM: UBWO, Leg Strengthening Exercises
Comment: I'm surprised I was still able to run after the lack of sleep, but I'm happy with it. I ran out of time though so didn't complete the LSE until the pm.

That's it! I'm about ready to crash, so good night!

Snow again

Nothing new. Work craziness. Car is still making noises. And it snowed again this morning. I don't mind these little dusting of snow. As long as we don't a big boat load I'm okay with it. Did I mention I hate shoveling? LOL.

BFL, both eating and workouts, are going well so far this week. I just hope I didn't jinx myself by saying that. ;)

I planned well this weekend in terms of my meals - cooked my meals this Sunday so I am set. I made EFL Beef Stew, Turkey Tacos, and EFL Pumpkin Cheesecake! All so yummy!

The Turkey Tacos was really simple. I just sauteed some red onions, browned some ground turkey, added taco mix according to the package directions, and that's it! I portioned it into individual containers, added some LF cheese on top, and it's ready to take to work for lunch. I eat it with some lettuce (already sliced and pre-washed) and 2 taco shells. I microwave the meat a little bit before eating, of course. The only thing is I can't find taco shells without the trans fat! However according to the package, one serving is 3 shells and has only 2.5 g trans fat and a total of 150 calories. Since I only eat 2 at a time, it's not so bad. I wish the taco shell manufacturers would get with the program and start making the 0 g trans fat version, LOL.

Okay, here's my workout for today:

AM: Treadmill (~3.3 miles running @ 5.8-6.2 mph w/ 1% incline (~33 min) + 7 min walking), Abs (3 x 1 min planks), Leg Strengthening Exercises
PM: LBWO

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Katiefeldmom - To answer your question on yesterday's HIIT, I did it at the following levels: 5, 5, (6, 7, 8, 9) seven times, 10, 5. Total 32 minutes. So it's sort of an extended version of the traditional 20 min BFL HIIT. I wanted to do 30 minutes HIIT at least and the BFL pattern just worked out this way. It was sort of punishment for slacking off this weekend. :o)

Hope that answers your question...

Snow finally!

So far, we had 2 snow episodes. One last Friday and one this morning. Nothing bad, less than an inch each, more like a dusting.

Last Friday was crazy! I deliberately left home late just to make sure the roads are clear of snow or ice. When I went out that morning to take out the garbage, I noticed the snow was sort of like tiny pellets of ice and slightly slippery. So I left, got about 2 miles from my house then practically sat in traffic. I probably spent half an hour driving half a mile until I can get to this road where I can make a detour to another route. Thought I was clear, then hit another wall of traffic. Overall, my 13 miles drive took me over an hour. Thankfully, even though it was late, so was everybody else! When I got to work, my co-worker told me that the all the highways in the area were jammed because of accidents everywhere caused by icy roads. A really unfortunate incident was the turnpike exit near work. I found out that there was a serious car accident where the driver got ejected from his car died. Even though I bitched and moaned about the traffic, I think I got lucky, don't you think?

Today thankfully wasn't too bad. I left at a decent time and traffic was very light. I think the fact that schools opened 2 hours late helped a lot. Also, the snow didn't have that icy quality as last Friday so the roads were in good condition.

Oh shucks, the weather report just gave black ice warning for tomorrow. Bummer!

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So here's my workout updates. I know, this is kind of boring. But it helps me be accountable.

I have to admit, I fell from grace. :( Well, here goes.

Thursday:
AM: Treadmill (3 min walking + 0.5 miles running), Leg Strengthening Exercises
PM: LBWO
Comment: That's right! A pathetic 0.5 miles run! WTF! Well, I woke up late, realized that it's garbage and recycle day so I had to take care of that, and I was exhausted! No energy to go on. My body is probably telling me something, so I listened even though I'm still trying to figure out what.

Friday:
Supposed to be HIIT cardio and abs. Turned out into a big zilch! Nada! Kaput!
Comment: Snow and traffic totally threw me in a loop! Plus, since I was late I had stuff to do for work. I was so tired to do anything at home that night.

Saturday:
PM: LBWO, Leg Strengthening Exercises, Abs
Comment: Was supposed to be running in the morning, but just procrastinated until it was too late.

Sunday:
Rest day.
Comment: Was planning on making up some cardio, but again procrastinated. :(

Today is a new week. I'm back to semi-normal, but still feels like I'm picking myself up from last week. I'll get back to old form eventually. So for today's workout:
PM1: Elliptical (32 minutes HIIT + 3 minutes MISS), Abs (3x12 knee ups)
PM2: Leg Strengthening Exercises
Comment: Happy about the HIIT but disappointed with abs. Had a lot of work to do so time at the gym was limited. Was planning to do more abs at home but I'm just tired!

I don't know where this tiredness is coming from. Maybe I was doing so much? Or just stress from work and life in general?

Work is busy, plus I'm dealing with some difficult issues with one of my projects. Not fun!

I'm also stressed out about my car since just started making some some noises. It started around the holidays. It would make some rattling noises when I first start it up after it's been sitting for a while. It only lasts for for a minute or so, then it's quiet again. My friend thinks it might just be a loose screw. However, my car has a lot of mileage already so it's time to replace. I've been spoiled having no car payments for years though, so the idea of having a significant chunk of my monthly budget goint to car payments for 5 years is making me nervous. Yeah I can probably afford it, but I'm cheap, LOL. I'm comfortable having money in the bank in case of emergencies. Or *ahem* spontaneous shopping spree. Doesn't that count as an emergency? LOL.

Well, that's all I've got today! Good night!

I'm a stalker

While our blends community was going through a down time during the holidays -- well, except for me it seems :o) -- I've been checking out the running boards (Runnersworld & Coolrunning). I was tempted to start participating there coz they seem to be a very active and informative community, as well as a great group of people. However between this blog, myblends, and tracker, I won't have time for real life! Anyways, I came across this runner's blog. What an inspiration! And he just ran his first marathon! He also has a bunch of links to other runner's blog on his sidebar that I've been checking out. Reading up on those makes me want to move to Houston. There's a big group of blogging runners over there!

Anyways, you all know the drill by now. Got my workouts done.

PM: Elliptical (20 minutes HIIT + 20 minutes MISS), Abs

For abs, I did a bunch of crunches, a bunch of exercises using a medicine ball, some pilates exercises, and 2 x 1 min. planks. It totally kicked my ass!

Also, I am still sore from yesterday's UBWO. Good stuff!!!

Eating is better than yesterday. Not as clean during lunch. I met another friend for lunch, but we went to a nearby restaurant this time. I had a cup of split pea soup and a small chicken ceasar salad. I should have asked for the dressing on the side, but I completely forgot! It wasn't too bad though. The split pea soup was salty though.

That's it for today!

Television Mania

I'm watching American Idol right now. Nobody's really impressing me yet, but I don't normally make a decision until they start the actual competition. Most of the contestants right now are HORRIBLE! I can't believe nobody ever told them until the audition that they can't sing! Are they even serious about being upset, or is it all an act?

Anyhoo...the wierd weather we've been having is finally ending. Boohoo! I was so enjoying myself. Tomorrow, the temperature is supposed to drop to the teens -- back to normal January weather. Oh well, I guess we're due.

As usual, got my workout done today!

AM: Treadmill (2.25 miles @ 6.0-6.2 mph and 1% incline [~22 min] + ~8 min. walking for warm-up and cool-down), Leg Strengthening Exercises
PM: UBWO

I deliberately ran only 2.25 miles today since I ran over 2 miles yesterday for my 20 minutes HIIT. I'm still doing gradual improvements with the running. It must be working because legs still feel fine!

I didn't eat completely clean today. I met a friend for lunch and the food at our cafeteria sucked! I got eggplant parmesan, grilled veggies, & no pasta. I only ate part of the eggplant parmesan since that wasn't that good either.

That's all I've got today.

JACK IS BACK!!!

Did anybody catch last night's season premiere of 24? Man, I was totally stoked! Sure it's the same premise - Jack Bauer saving the world from the evil terrorist. But it's still an awesome show, full of twists and turns and non-stop adrenaline rush. I cannot wait for the 2nd 2-hours installment tonight!

One thing is for sure - JACK BAUER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!!! Geez, you would think CTU would learn it by now!

Did anybody recognize the actor playing the reformed terrorist, Assad? I was trying to remember who it was, then it hit me almost at the end of the show. It's Dr. Bashir from Star Trek - Deep Space Nine! Oops, did I just admit my inner nerdyness? ;-)

Next week is going to be tough! 24 and Heroes are both on at the same time! I wish I have TIVO or DirectTV. I may have to figure out how to work my VCD again. It's been a while! SciFi channel does play the new episodes the Monday after at 7 pm, but I don't think I can wait.

Tonight is also the Golden Globe Award show. I don't typically watch these shows, but I'm kind of curious how the movie Dreamgirls do. I hope Jennifer Hudson wins! And I also hope Keifer and 24 racks up some awards!

Also, don't forget, tomorrow is the season premiere of "American Idol"! WOOHOO!

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Today, I'm off from work because of Martin Luther King Day. The day-off is great! It's like a post-holiday reprieve, but a couple of weeks later, LOL!

Got my workout done! 20 minutes (pseudo) HIIT on the tready+ 15 minutes walking also on the tready + Leg Strengthening Exercises + Abs. It's the first time I did HIIT on the tready since I had runner's knee before Thanksgiving. I only went up to 6.5 mph for my 10. Cardio-wise, I could have gone higher. However, I didn't want to strain my knees too much, and I was landing on my feet kind of awkwardly throughout the run. Fortunately, my legs feel fine so far (keeping my fingers crossed).

Gotta go! 24 is on!

Tagged: A - Z

A- Available or single? Both
B- Best Friend? None. Lots of close friends though.
C- Cake or Pie? Pecan Pie
D- Drink of Choice? Coffee
E- Essential Item? Lip gloss
F- Favorite Color? Green (at the moment)
G- Gummi Bears or Worms? Worms (I love the sour ones!)
H- Hometown? Manila, Philippines
I- Indulgence? Manicure and Pedicure
J- January or February? January - new start to a new year!
K- Kids and names? No kids
L- Life is incomplete without? My family
M- Marriage Date? Hopefully, sometime in the future.
N- Number of Siblings? 2 brothers
O- Oranges or Apples? Golden Delicious Apples
P- Phobias/Fears? phobia = big group of birds /// fears = death
Q- Favorite Quote? "Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever." - Lance Armstrong
R- Reason to Smile? "24" premieres tonight!
S- Season? Autumn
T- Tag three people! Three people who hasn't done this yet.
U- Unknown Fact about Me? Can't think of one right now.
V- Vegetable you hate? Tomato
W- Worst Habit? Procrastinating
Y- Your Favorite Food? French fries
Z- Zodiac? Libra

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My legs feel like lead from yesterday's LBWO. It hurts so good!

I promise...

...to post picture of me in my bridesmaid's dress. Of course, you all have to wait until April. :)

I went to David's Bridal today to try out the dress for the alterations. Man, I really have to make sure I work out and not explode before the wedding. The dress fits just right with hardly any room to move. It's a size 2, but since it's a formal wear it's made smaller than the regular sizes. I only had to get the strap and the length shortened, but other than that everything's fine. And yes, the shoes went really well with the dress.

This week is another successful week with fitness. Since my last post on Tuesday, here's what I did:

Wednesday
AM: Elliptical (20 minutes HIIT + 20 minutes MISS), Abs

Thursday
AM: Treadmill (Running @ ~6 mph and 1% incline for ~22.5 min [2.25 miles] + ~7 min walking for warm-up and cool-down), Leg Strengthening Exercises
PM: UBWO
Comment: I woke up late and didn't have enough time on the treadmill. Plus I was really tired.

Friday
PM: Elliptical (20 minutes HIIT + 15 minutes MISS), Abs

Today
AM: Treadmill (Running ~5K + 10 minutes walking for warm-up and cool-down), LBWO, Knee Stabilizing Exercises, Abs (4 X 12 Knee-ups), Treadmill (~27 minutes walking)
Comment: Should have run outside. It was nice and warm! But, I saved a lot of time just doing all my workouts at the gym. I went with my mom to her gym. She took FOREVER! The ab workout and 2nd treadmill session was while waiting for her to get all her stuff done.

I should be done for the week. I might go for a walk tomorrow to accompany my dad so he gets some exercise.

Supplement's good. Water's good. Eating on the other hand...Blah!!! That should speak for itself.

Gotta go! Eagles are playing in a couple of minutes.

And I realized I was tagged by both Evelyne and Katie. I'll try to get that done tomorrow.

And don't forget..."24" 2-hours season premiere is tomorrow night!!!!!!

Shoes are here!

Wow, that was fast! I ordered the shoes from Zappos on Sunday (see last post) and they're now here! WOOHOO! Zappos just made a new fan out of me! I must say, the shoes are so purrty! Here's a pic:

The shoes actually look a lot better in person. Much more blingy! And they fit me perfectly! In the couple of minutes that I wore them, they seem to be fairly comfortable. Surprising since the heels are so high. But I need all the help I can get, being only 5'1" and all. Anyways, I'll have to try them on some more just to get used to them. Gotta get used to boogying in them, ya know! ;)

I just hope they go with my dress, which is this one:

Let me just say, the dress looks awesome and suits me really well! Very chic and very slimming! My future SIL decided to have the bridesmaids pick a dress style of their choice but in the same color, which is lilac. I think that's pretty smart since everybody's body type is different. Anyways, when I tried this dress on, I got so many complements from the other girls in the dressing room area, which was packed that day. In fact, many of the girls requested the same dress coz it looked so good on me (not to brag or anything, LOL). For a brief moment, I was the center of attention! :0)

Gotta stay in shape and look good in that dress! Perhaps a nice, toned arms? Which brings me to my usual topic...

Today, fitness reigned supreme once again!

AM: Treadmill (3.5 miles @ 5.9-6.1 mph and 1% incline [~35 minutes] + 8 minutes walking for warm-up and cool-down), Leg Strengthening Exercises.

PM: LBWO, Knee Stabilizing Exercise

Eating = CHECK

Water = CHECK

Supplements = CHECK

Running felt really great! Other than the annoying blister on my big toe, legs feel fine. As for the LBWO, I increased my weight settings by 5 lbs on all the exercises. I'm taking baby steps so that the risk of injury is kept at a minimum. Slow and steady wins the race!

Gonna Fly Now

I love this song! It's the first song on my cardio playlist and it gets my blood pumping everytime I hear it.

On a related topic, GO EAGLES! Great game last night! Next stop - New Orleans!

Yesterday was very productive. I went to church in the morning, then went to the mall to return a sweater. I also needed to get silver sandals for my bridesmaid dress for my brother's wedding in April. I'm scheduled for a fitting this coming Saturday and I need the sandals with me. Guess what, NOTHING! My feet are too small - 5 1/2 - and the smallest the stores carry is 6! I can typically get away with a 6 on boots and sneakers, but never sandals. So I went to Zappos.com, and I was saved! And, the one I got was a special where shipping upgrade for 2-days express is FREE! This is the first time I've purchased anything from Zappos.com so I'm crossing my fingers that everything works out.

In addition to the shoes, I got tons of work done around the house. Did a little bit of cleaning and straightening up here and there and also cooked my meals for the week.

Today started out on a positive note also. We were supposed to get flooded. In fact, we were warned we were supposed to get over 4" of rain between last night and this morning, and because of all the rain we already got the last couple of weeks, we would only need a little under 2" to get to flood stage. However, it turned out not to be too bad. We did get rain, but nothing too heavy. In fact, other than the occassional slow drivers, my drive to work was uneventful.

Best of all, I made it to the gym super early today! Did 20 minutes HIIT + 20 minutes MISS on the eliptical machine, followed by abs. Eating has been clean so far (and will be for the remainder of the night). Supplements are on target. Water has been guzzled on a regular basis.

I just need to stop watching the Food Network. They just showed a special on Coldstone Creamery ice cream, one of my many food weaknesses. Thankfully, I made some EFL Cheesecake last night, which should satisfy my sweet tooth. ;-)

Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)

No fighting though! I'm trying to come up with a title but this is the only one I can think of that has "Saturday on it. LOL!

This weekend is quiet for a change, which is a welcome relief after the craziness of the holidays. I'm getting a lot done at home, which is desperately needed as my house looks like a pig sty. Right now, I'm winding down watching the movie "Invincible" with Mark Wahlberg and Greg Kinnear. It's about a guy named Vince Papale, an ordinary guy who made the Philadelphia Eagles team through an open tryout. It's hard to believe this is the first time I'm watching this movie considering I'm in the Philadelphia Eagles territory. But that's just the way it is. Not only will the movie (hopefully) provide some motivation in my life, but it should get me in the mood for tomorrow's playoff game between the Eagles and the New York Giants. GO EAGLES!!!

The first week of January is turning out to be a strange one, but in a good way. Today, it got up to 70 F! That's unheard of in January around here in the northeast! I think the warm weather is having a positive affect on people's mood around here too. You know how you get somewhat depressed during the post-holiday season? Well, none of that around here. People are outside, enjoying the warm weather like it's summer! It's wonderful! I know that it's not going to last though. I'm just hoping we don't get too much snow. I hate snow and all that shoveling!!!!

Anyways, I got all my workouts done this week!

Yesterday (Friday):
AM: 50 minutes spinning class, Abs
Went to a spinning class at work just before lunchtime. Boy, was it TOUGH!!! I'm glad we got an instructor that really pushed us!

Today (Saturday):
AM: 4+ miles running outside
PM: UBWO, Leg Strengthening Exercises
Of course I took advantage of the nice weather today! Wore just a shirt (dry wicking of course) and shorts and had to apply sunscreen! UBWO was done at 10 pm. I had to run some errands today, do some work around the house, then a friend of mine called and we chatted a bit. Next thing you know, it's late.

That should be it for the week! Except for work, I'm ready to face next week head on! Got my groceries done, meals planned, etc. So far so good!

P.S.
Still watching "Invincible". It's really good! =)

Slippery When Wet

...or, I should say "Icy".

I almost got into an accident yesterday morning. I left the house a little earlier than normal while it was still dark. There were a fair number of cars already on the road and I was driving along this one road where the traffic has slowed down, so I slowed down too. Next thing I know, the truck in front of me started going to the opposite side of the road. I was already slowing down at this point, maybe less than 5 mph, when to my surprise my car slowly swerved to the opposite side of the road also. I must have hit a patch of black ice or something. Almost went off the road and almost made a complete 360. Luckily, I was able to stop in time. I also noticed the truck behind me kind of swerved to the other side side. There must have been multiple cars that lost control! Fortunately, the cars going the opposite way must have realized what was happening and gave us plenty of room. I was surprised that we didn't smash into each other and we were able to to drive off without a scratch. That was a close call!

Other than the near miss yesterday, I'm doing great! Diet is great, not 100%, but close. I haven't been keeping track of my water intake, but I know I drank a lot judging by all the bathroom trips and the trips to the kitchen to refill my water bottle :). Workouts are right on!

Yesterday (Wednesday):
AM: Eliptical (20 minutes HIIT + 20 minutes MISS), Abs, Lower Back Exercises

Today (Thursday):
AM: Treadmill (3.25 miles @ 5.8-6.0 mph and 1% incline [~33.5 minutes] + 6.5 minutes walking for warm-up and cool-down), Leg Strengthening Exercises
PM: LBWO, Knee Stabilizing Exercises

No shin splints and the back soreness is almost non-existant! WOOOHOOOO!!!!

While surfing the Runner's World Forum, one of the posters suggested this ab routine:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=486

It looks like a great routine! I'll probably try it, but I don't know if I can remember all 15 exercises, LOL!

Later!

Alyssa Lies

I had another crying fit today in my car while driving home. It's all because of the country song "Alyssa Lies" by John Michael Carroll. I've heard this song before and thought it had a nice melody but did not really listen to the words until today. Have any of you heard it? Talk about heartbreaking! I found this homemade video in youtube if you haven't heard the music yet. It's the first song played in the video.



----------------------------

On to more light-hearted topic....

Yesterday was my rest day so today was my first workout of 2007.

AM: treadmill (3.125 miles for an average speed of 5.8 mph and 1% incline (~32 minutes) + 7 minutes walking for warm-up and cool-down), leg strengthening exercises
PM: UBWO

Lower back still feels a tad bit sore, but getting better. The good news is no shin splints! Woohoo! Just to be safe, I took it easy by maintaining an average 5.8 mph speed. For my PM workout, I procrastinated before UBWO and did not get it to it until 10 pm. But I GOT IT DONE!

That's it for today! Until tomorrow!

2007 - Here we go!

Happy New Year everyone! Let's greet 2007 with a bang!

I did my last work out for 2006 today. Since I couldn't run and I'm doing a make up of tomorrow's cardio, I did cardio overload today! 40 minutes on the recumbent bike, 15 minutes on the Body Trec, a little bit of back exercises and abs, and finally slow walking on the treadmill at 12 % incline (being extra careful with the shins). Boy was I dripping with sweat! I noticed that there were a lot of people at the gym this morning trying to get a good workout in before we go crazy tonight :-D.

Shins are still bothering me. I've been icing and taking ibuprofen, but they are still sore. I am praying that it is only shin splint and nothing serious like *gulp* stress fracture.

Anyways, enjoy yourselves tonight! I certainly will ;-). And above all, stay safe!

I'm falling apart!

Lower back feels a lot better. But now I have shin splints...on BOTH legs! WTF!!! Must be from the 4-miles fast walk yesterday. Today's planned 4.5 miles run was scrapped. Instead, I decided to play it smart so I shelled out $7 to use the local gym. Here's my workout:

AM: Eliptical (20 minutes HIIT + 10 minutes MISS), LBWO, Abs

I had to be careful with LBWO since my back still feels a bit tender. For example, I did one set of squats on the smith machine then decided to do something else since it does put a little bit of pressure on the back.

But what a shame! Today is sunny, mild weather, in the mid-50's. Perfect day for running.

I'm kind of disappointed since I keep getting sidelined with injuries. However, I am not deterred! I will keep on going, and hopefully one of these days, I'm going to figure out how I'm supposed to land my feet on the ground, LOL! In the meantime, ICE ICE BABY!

If I have time, I'll probably go to the gym tomorrow for my last workout of 2006.

Have a safe and happy New Years everyone!!!

Dreamgirls

I finally saw this movie! I absolutely LOVE it! Beyonce was great, but Jennifer Hudson rocked the house! Everytime she sang, the whole movie theatre was really getting into it and clapping.

The movie soundtrack was awesome and favorite song from the movie is probably "Listen" which was sung by Beyonce. I highly recommend that you go see the movie!

**********************************

I woke up today with a sore lower back. WTF!!!!

I'm not sure what's going on. I've been spending most of my holidays at my parents' house and the heaviest weights my mom has is a pair of 8-lbs dumbells. Since I'm too cheap to spend $7/day to go to the gym (have to counteract the 3 Couch bags I bought as x-mas present to myself ;-D), my weight-lifting days has been modified to supersets with high repetitions. I still felt the burn though. Anyways, I don't think my sore back has anything to do with the weight lifting. I'm pretty sure it's the running. All that heavy pounding does put a toll on your lower back. So today, it's going to be stretching, icing, Icy Blue, and more stretching. In the future, I'll be more conscious with strengthening my lower back - maybe do some low back exercises right after working the abs.

Thankfully, I'm off from running today. I did go to the park for a 4-miles walk. Man, did it take FOREVER! Tomorrow is my long run and I hope my back feels better then.

Post-Christmas Report

One holiday down, one more to go!

I am thoroughly enjoying my holidays and vacation! Besides the onslaught of holiday parties, I've been getting in touch with friends who, like me, are also home for the holidays. Two nights ago, I went out with 2 of my close guy friends from college. One now lives in Nashville, Tennessee and works for Nissan as an engineer. The other friend is now a nephrologist (kidney doctor). He will be moving to Phoenix, Arizona next year to join his uncles practice. Man, I feel old! It seems like only yesterday we were all goofing off, staying up all night, partying, etc. Anyways, I'm so glad those two are living where they are. I'm already planning on visiting my friend from Nashville sometime next year since I've never been there. I've already been to Phoenix years ago to visit the doctor friend when he was going to med school there, so I'll have to see about that.

Yesterday, I met another friend for lunch. This friend was someone I used to work with at my current company, but is now doing some post-doctoral studies in Tissue Engineering at MIT. His family still lives in the area so we usually meet once a year around the holidays. We went to our usual hang out, which is an Italian restaurant specializing in authentic Italian hoagies. Man, those hoagies are sooo good!

I may have more plans between tonight and tomorrow night, but Saturday night I'm meeting 2 other friends that I haven't seen in a while. These friends are people I used to work with at a department store during summer breaks from college. We'll probably do dinner then a movie. I am hoping they're open to seeing "Dreamgirls" coz I really want to see it! :-)

Between the parties and reunion with friends, my eating has been shot! I've been successful with limiting my portions, but the meals are not the healthiest. Like for example, 2 nights ago we went to Olive Garden then to a diner for coffee and desert. There are no healthy choice at Olive Garden, so I settled for Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, of which I ate only half. Then at the diner, the healthiest desert was carrot cake. :-)

I'm thoroughly enjoying myself this holiday, but I cannot wait when this is all over and I can get back to a routine.

On the other hand, workouts has been going GGGRRRREEEAAATT!!!

Monday:
No workout. Christmas day. Had a small get-together at my brother's place for lunch, then went to a friend's house for dinner. I was stuffed!!! However, I did run the day before, which was supposed to be rest day.

Tuesday:
AM: Treadmill (3.4+ miles at 5.9 mph and 1% incline + 10 minutes walking for warm-up and cool-down), Abs, leg strengthening exercises
Was planning on doing LBWO, but couldn't get it in.

Wednesday:
PM: LBWO
Was running around all day and was too tired to do the planned cardio. LBWO was completed through sheer will at around 10 pm!

Thursday:
AM: Treadmill (3.4+ miles at 5.9-6.1 mph and 1% incline + 7 minutes walking for warm-up and cool-down), Abs, leg strengthening exercises
PM: UBWO
That's more like it!

I absolutely must get back to an eating routine come January! Inspite of the workouts, I can feel the effects of my poor eating habits. My stomach is so bloated I'm starting to look like the Goodyear blimp!

That's it for now! Hope everybody's having a great holiday as well!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

PS: Today is supposed to be my rest day...BUT...since there's a good possibility that I won't be able to work out tomorrow, I got in a 2 miles run + 1.5 miles walk this afternoon at the park. :o)

LSD

Long Slow Distance run = 4 miles

DONE!!!

Okay, that's probably measley to some serious runners, but to me, that's a LOOONG distance! Anyways, I thought that's worth blogging about today, even though very few people are blogging right now. :-)

Went to the park today and ran at a very leasurely pace. The goal is to make it to 4 miles without crashing. My legs still felt like lead this morning so I made sure to stretch a lot before going out. It was a nice 56F, very cloudy but no rain. There were several people there walking and one woman was running. When I first started, the woman looked like she was going pretty fast (tall with long strides) and I was thinking there is no way I was going to catch up to her. So off I went at what I consider a slow pace and pretty soon, I was passing her! The park was pancake flat and has a 1/2 mile loop around it so it was definitely a leasurely run. Runner's high hit me after mile 3 and after I was done with mile 4, I felt I could have gone on longer! After mile 4, I kept on running for a little bit longer and then slowed down to a walk until I completed lap 9, which made it a total of 4.5 miles! Knees are still holding up so I am pretty happy!

Went home and did some leg strengthening exercises and UBWO (supersets).

Total running miles for the week = 11.6

I'm a very happy camper!

doidle - Thanks for stopping by! I'll try to post some pictures soon. Nothing in swimsuit though. ;-) I did post some pictures in myblends a couple of days ago - before BFL and after BFL.

Have a great day everyone!

3 Shopping Days Before Christmas

Still here and still going strong! Cold is almost gone and workouts for today are done!

Treadmill: 3.1+ miles running @ 5.9 mph and 1% incline (~32 minutes), 8 minutes walking for warm-up and cool-down
Leg strengthening exercises
Abs supersets: 4x25 crunches, reverse crunches, oblique crunches (both sides). OUCH!!!

My butt is so sore from yesterday's and today's workouts that it hurts to sit down. It's a good hurt though. I want to do a long, slow run (~4 miles) tomorrow, but I'll have to see. It's supposed to be 60F tomorrow and I so want to run outside, but the rain is predicted to continue throughout the morning. The good news is, my knees are holding up (knock on wood). Those leg strenghtening exercises and stretches are doing wonders!

Today, I got some last minute shopping done. My brother and I went to this shopping center, which is a little on the higher end, so it wasn't too crowded. The worst part is the traffic to and from there. We left after lunch, but I guess a lot of people were either shopping or were let go early from work.

Anyways, I am DONE with my Christmas shopping! I just have to get a couple more VISA gift checks from the bank, buy some Christmas bags from the Dollar Store, and that should be it! WAAAAHOOOOO!!!

Gotta go! I hear the fire engines going, which means the annual Santa rounds are happening courtesy of our fire department. What can I say, I'm still a kid at heart! :)

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

Bored

Can't you tell? That's why I've been on a blogging frenzy lately, LOL. None of my friends and families are on vacation, so it's just me amusing myself.

Workouts are done for today! Here's what I did:

AM: ~51 minutes walking on the treadmill (~3 miles) on a very high incline. This treadmill is old and kind of manual so it felt like I was going faster than what the display says. I was definitely sweating up a storm and my legs were screaming!
PM: LBWO, leg strengthening exercises

I still have the cold, hence, the walking on the treadmill. Otherwise, I'd be outside in the frigid weather running. Thankfully, my cold hasn't been too bad. Guess that Zicam actually works!

Oh, I made a cool discovery on iTunes! There's a podcast called Yoga Today that have video episodes every day! You do not need a video iPod! It's actually better to play it in your computer so it's on a bigger screen. Just download it to your computer, play, and do yoga to your hearts content. And since they have different episodes everyday, you won't get bored! I'm going to dowload an episode to my laptop and go somewhere in the house where there's room to spread out and go from there! Pretty cool, huh?

Now, if you're tech savvy like my one brother, you can build your own computer that has a built-in tv tuner and Tivo-like recording thingamajig, hook it up to your big flat screen TV, and you're golden! He has an older computer (Sony Vaio - still pretty good!) that he's rigging up to function similarly and giving it to my non-tech savvy parents. Lucky dogs!

Anyways, I might do some yoga later, if I still have some energy. ;-)

VACATION!!!

As of yesterday, I am officially on vacation! Not returning to work until January 2nd! Yeah baby! Unfortunately, I've been getting calls from our secretary about urgent things that I have to take care of, so I've been logging into work, resolving issues, etc. Oh well! It's still better not being at work.

Here's my workout log so far for the week:

Monday
AM: eliptical (20 minutes HIIT + 15 minutes MISS), Killer Abs (still hurting today!)

Tuesday
AM: ~1.5 miles running + ~.5 miles walking (warm-up, cool-down), as much push-ups as I can manage, leg strengthening exercises
Don't know what happened! One minute I was enjoying my run outside, then I just stopped and decided to walk home. Must be because of lack of sleep (~4 hours)? Then, I had to drive to my parents house before lunch time so I ran out of time.

Wednesday (Today)
AM: ~3+ miles running + .5 miles walking, leg strengthening exercise
PM: UBWO (supersets), Abs

Run today was great! It was pretty chilly, but very sunny and no cloud in sight so that helped a lot. Unfortunately, I was hit with a cold immediately afterwards. Still managed to do my workouts in the afternoon though. Followed my guideline of neck up = workout, neck down and/or fever = no workout. I took some Airborne right away and went to the pharmacy for Zicam and Cold-eeze cough drops, both of which are supposed to reduce the length and the symptoms of cold. We'll see!

Tomorrow if my cold progress, I might just do light cardio like 45 minutes walking plus LBWO.

That's it for now. Be good!

My Power Song

Ending on a good note

Today is the 6th day I've worked out this week. Woohoo!!! What an accomplishment! So today's workout is as follows:

AM: Running outside for 3.4 miles.
PM: LBWO, Abs

Overall mileage ran for the week: 9.85 miles. Not too bad for a comeback. :)

Okay, I didn't do abs last night as promised. I fell asleep early and totally forgot! But I did make it up today!

Running today felt great! It was 46F, nice and sunny - perfect running weather! I actually ended up taking off my jacket after a while because I got too hot. The only annoying thing is the wind - it always pick up everytime I go uphill, just to make things harder for me, LOL. It's strange, but I think it's better for me to run outside than on the treadmill. It seems I get injured more on the treadmill. Must be the way my feet land on the ground or something. Who would have thunk?

Don't want to jinx myself, but...

...I'm doing really good this week!

Monday
AM: Eliptical (20 minutes HIIT + 10 minutes MISS), Abs

Tuesday
AM: Treadmill (2.2 miles @ 5.8 mph (~23 minutes), 7 minutes LISS (warm-up, cool-down), leg strengthening exercises
PM: LBWO, leg strengthening exercises (cable machine)

Wednesday
AM: Eliptical (20 minutes HIIT + 15 minutes MISS), Abs

Thursday
AM: Treadmill (2.25+ miles @ 5.9 mph (23 minutes), 7 minutes LISS (warm-up, cool down), leg strengthening exercises
PM: UBWO, leg strengthening exercises (cable machine)

Friday
AM: Treadmill (5 minutes warm-up + 2 miles run @ 5.8 mph (~21 minutes) + 9 minutes fast walking on 3% incline), leg strengthening exercise.
Will do abs tonight - PROMISE!!!

I'm working from home this morning because my heater is being serviced (preventive maintenance). Unfortunately, the service guy is LATE!!! Ugh!!! It's gone past 1:30 pm and I'm supposed to be at work at 2 pm for our Christmas party. The guy is still in the basement doing his thing. So annoying!!!

Test Run

Yay, I'm back to running! For the last couple of days, all I've been doing was brisk walking on a high incline for loooong periods (boring!!!). Today, I eased back into running by doing a moderate 5.7 mph pace and 1% incline for 2 miles, which took about 21 minutes. My right knee, which was giving me problems, feels FINE! WAAAHOOO!!! For the next week or so, I'm going to be strict and not increase my speed or time by no more than 10% a week. At the same time, I'm going to continue doing the leg strengthening exercises. Hopefully, those two combined will lead me to build a good solid running base, and maybe I can finally improve.

Also after my run today, I did an UBWO. A good day overall for fitness!

Food is another matter. I met my family at Maggiano's for lunch today since it's my brother's birthday. It's an Italian restaurant (for those who don't know) and we had their family style special in which you share the food and you get a choice of 2 salads, 2 appetizers, 2 pasta dishes, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts, plus the bread. Their portions are huge and the food is amazing! My family and I are fairly light eaters, so we ended up taking most of the food home! Needless to say, I was so full afterwards.

After lunch, my mom and I decided to walk off the meal by doing some shopping at the nearby mall. I got a good deal on a pair of jeans at Express. They have a special going on in which the jeans are $20 off, and I have a $15 coupon, so I ended up paying only $25 for a pair of jeans! SAAWEET!!! That's not even the best part! The best part is I actually fit in a SIZE 0 SLIM FIT JEANS!!! This is my first pair of Express jeans since like college, so their size might be bigger. Don't know. But it's still pretty amazing! I was a size 2 in jeans and size 0 in regular pants and was quite happy with it, but I guess I still lost some inches. I bought the size 0 boot cut jeans, but for kicks I tried on the size 0 skinny jeans and they also fit!!! They actually look darn good! I almost started cheering in the fitting room when my fat legs actually slid through and the zip closed with no problem, LOL! The skinny jeans were $20 more than the boot cut one so I didn't get it. Maybe next time. I would probably wear them with knee-high boots worn over the jeans. That would look really sharp! Oh well! Like I said, maybe next time. Hopefully, my fat calves also caught up with the size reduction so I can also get a new, non-stretchy, knee-high boots, LOL!

I was feeling so confident in my newly discovered size that I ended up buying a Coach bag, LOL! There goes the great deal at Express! ;)

Well, that's the end of my fun for the day. Now it's onto cooking for the week, folding the laundry that I did last night, maybe some cleaning, and FINALLY setting up my Christmas tree. I do have the lights outside already set up, so I'm not completely late with my Christmas decorations.

Sick

I've been struck with some nasty stomach bug. Yesterday morning, I woke up feeling feverish and nauseus. The only thing I had yesterday was a cup of hot tea and some water. I just couldn't keep anything down! My temperature was above 100 for the whole day so I took some Tylenol. I was feeling nauseus all day, but didn't actually throw up until 9 pm! What a horrible feeling!

I feel better today - no more fever or nausea. I was actually able to eat 2 pieces of toast and drink a cup of hot tea this morning. However, I still feel drained from yesterday, so I decided to take another day off from work today to recuperate completely. I have been checking emails regularly from work to keep up to date and I am already dreading going back! Just so much work to do!

I was watching the news this morning, and apparently there has been an outbreak of E. coli in our area. I don't think that's what I have or I'd be in worse shape than what I've been. Plus, they traced the source to a couple of Taco Bell fast food restaurants, and I know I haven't been to one in months!

Needless to say, no workouts yesterday and today. Honestly, that's the last of my concern right now. I'm more concerned about getting more food in me.

So that's what I've been up to for the last couple of days. Not fun!

Blogging again

Surprise! Another post from me, and so soon! Anyways, I decided to start blogging more regularly again. I need to be extra vigilant right now with my workouts since I can't run so that the weight doesn't creep up. Posting my workouts will hopefully keep me accountable.

So here goes:

Yesterday (Sunday)

• 2 miles walk at the park by my parents house. My dad wanted to go for a walk so I went to keep him company.

Today

• Moderate walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes (first thing in the morning on an empty stomach)
• Abs (3 sets of planks: 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 minute)
• Leg strengthening exercises

My knee feels so much better. But I'm being smart this time and giving it time to heal. When I do start running again, I will have to force myself to start easy.

I found some great websites that have exercises on how to strengthen the leg muscles to help avoid runner's knee. I'll be sure to incorporate these exercises into my workouts:

http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/guides/knee/xpatello.gif

http://www.drpribut.com/sports/spknees.html

The latest Runner's World magazine edition also has an article on injury prevention with exercise recommendations. I ripped the page off and posted it on my magnetic board in my basement where I work out.

That's it for now!

Runner's Knee :(

No running for me right now :(. It seems like I have runner's knee, specifically on my right knee. I lost my motivation for a week after Thanksgiving, which means no workout at all. Thankfully, I was able to keep my eating 90% clean (not counting the Thanksgiving meal, of course). Anyways, I finally regained my motivation yesterday and ran on the treadmill for 20 minutes (BFL HIIT) and walked for 10 minutes (warm-up and cool-down). I made sure to stretch a lot before and after too. I was fine for the whole day, then by the end of the day my right knee started hurting when I walk down the stairs. Also that afternoon at the gym, I couldn't even do leg extensions. Hence, no running for at least a couple of days for me. And today, my planned 5K race has been scrapped :(. This coming week for cardio, it will be walking and cross-training (ie: bike, eliptical, etc.).

It's kind of frustrating. I have never been made for running and have to work my butt off to get to this point. But I love it and will not give up. So this is just a temporary drawback and I WILL BE BACK! I have been doing a lot of reading on runner's knee and I will be sure to do the exercises recommended to strengthen the leg muscles. Also, I will be more conscious of taking my Glucosamine-Chondroitin-MSM and Fish Oil supplements - yeah, those went out the toilet along with my workouts!

I did get the iPod Shuffle and I am totally in love with it! So if any of you are thinking of getting it, I highly recommend it! You don't even notice that it's there! I'm hoping my knees will feel better soon so I can take advantage of the Shuffle.

My Second 5K!!!!

So I ran my second 5K yesterday! And I sucked...or so I thought.

I ran it again with a friend of mine, who is our department admin. from work. It was a lot warmer this time, probably around 60s when the race started at 9 am, sunny with a slight breeze. It was unusually warm yesterday, it actually went up to mid-70's! Anyways, this race is a lot bigger than the one I ran a couple of weeks ago. It started out in a park trail then to the surrounding neighborhood. The description says that it's supposed to be mostly flat terrain, which it wasn't! I must have started really fast because by the half-way mark, my time was 14:45. And here's the sucky part, I ended up walking 3 times! I don't know what was up with me! Early last week, I did have a cold with fever. But I ran approx. 4 miles Thursday morning, albeit very slow. Don't know if it has something to do with that or the hills or what. So anyways, to my shame I walked. I did notice a lot more people (more than normal) taking walking breaks so maybe it just wasn't me. My friend, who was behind me the entire race, also walked several times. She didn't understand it either as this was her 4th 5K race and have never walked on her previous 3 races and on her training runs.

The race ended also at the park and I sprinted towards the end. I was so disgusted with myself that I didn't even want to know my time. But get this, inspite of all the walking I ended up beating my time from my first 5K race! My finish time was 30:09! I am kicking myself though because I most likely would have been sub-30 if I just kept on running.

Overall though, I had a great time. 5K races are so much fun! You see so many people of different ages and different fitness level. And everybody is just so friendly! I'm just going to keep on running and hopefully keep on improving.

My friend, who is 49 this year, will be cleaning up the medals next year! She just missed the next age-level, but she always beat at least one of the medalist's times in the 50's age category. She just started running this year so she should be better next year.

So my next race? There's another one in Dec. 2, but I have to play it by ear since it might be too cold by then. This race is going to be held at the same place as my first 5K race, even the same running path, just different organizer. I'm just going to wing it and see how the weather is. But I read that the sponsors are supposed to provide food and 2 of the sponsors are Starbucks and Coldstone Creamery! Those might just be enough to bring me to the race, LOL!

I'm also thinking of doing a 5-miler in April. God help me! Of course, I have to train for it. This is the race I'm thinking of doing: Valley Forge Revolutionary 5-Mile Run.

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SHOPPING!!!

I just found out that an outlet store is opening like 7 miles away from me! Eeeek! Like I don't shop enough! The construction is already underway and the mall is slated to open in the Fall of 2007.

I'm also thinking of getting an iPOD Shuffle. I already have the iPOD Nano, but the armband is getting cumbersome for me during my runs. The iPOD Shuffle only costs $74, holds 1G of songs (~240), and a lot more portable. Check this out!

Quick Update

Yeah, I'm still alive. Just nothing new to say.

I am planning on running my 2nd 5K next week. Wish me luck!

My First 5K!!!!!

My first 5K was today! Boy, was it an experience! I was sooooo nervous going into it. First because I dind't really prepare for it until this week. I procrastinated! After my vacation, I indulged in several days more recovering from my vacation, LOL! So this week, I crammed as much running as I can into one week. My last runs were 3.5 miles this Wednesday and 4.5 miles this Thursday. Big mistake! I was so sore even today going into my 5K.

To add to injury, Aunt Flo came yesterday. Driving to the race, I got cramps so bad I had to pull over a parking lot. I almost turned around and headed back home. But I knew that I would regret it if I did that. So I waited a bit and went on my way once I felt better.

Furthermore, it is FREEZING today and I am not used to running in the cold! 40F with 10mph wind. Thankfully, it was sunny. I tried to warm up without tiring myself too much by walking around, stretching, making bathroom trips, etc. There were some people there wearing just t-shirt and shorts and I don't know how the hell they do it! Also, our race started in a high school so there were some people taking advantage of the track and running there even before the race started. I was just amazed with that since the thought of running 3.1 miles is daunting enough for me.

I found my friend who was also running the race and who happens to lives in the area. She started telling me about this one road that we were going to run in that consists of this one long hill that they call "The Wall". She said some bikers avoid it because it was so hard to climb. That immediately made me more nervous that I already was!

So finally we lined up in the starting line. Once the starting gun went off, it seems like this big group of runners just took off. I started out slow and it felt like I was going to be left behind. But eventually I got into the groove. Honestly, I didn't even notice the hill. I guess running at constant 1% incline on the treadmill helped me a bit. That and running in my development which has short but high inclines. What got to me were the trails. We went into this park and ran in this trail which was really windy, uneven, and wet because of the rain from yesterday. I honestly thought I was going to twist my ankle. The trail seemed to go FOREVER. Finally we were out of the trail and this one volunteer was yelling "One more mile!". At this point, exhaustion was getting to me. And to find that I still ahd one mile to go totally deflated me. I slowed down to a walk for about 20 seconds and after a couple of people passed me, I got pissed with myself and started to run again. Well, it turned out that we had like less than half a mile left after getting out of the park! We went down a block and once we made a turn, you could clearly see the end/start point. Needless to say, I wish I didn't hear that volunteer yelling "One more mile!" coz that got to me mentally.

I ended up finishing well: 30:18

I wish I finished less than 30 minutes, but I'll still take it!

We stayed behind for some food and the awards. Get this, I got 3rd in my age group and got a medal! WOOOOHOOO!!!! Unfortunately, they kind of screwed up that part. As they were announcing the winners in my age group for females, they went from 30:02 for second place, then skipped me and awarded the girl that finished 35:something for third. My friend and I had to go to the organizers afterwards and get it corrected. They had a bunch of extra medals and just gave me one and apologized for the mistake. I doubt they're going to "officially" correct it since they can't take back the 3rd place award. Oh well! I know my time and that's all that matters. My friend also took 3rd place in her age category so we were both happy.

The first overall winner was a guy who finished around 15 minutes! Holy crap! That means he was running 5 minute miles! That's freaking unbelievable! The overall winner for the ladies finished about 19 minutes. That's also freaking unbelievable! I can't imagine running that fast!

Overall, I'm glad I did it. I started to question myself during my run on what the hell I was thinking in doing it, but at the end of it all, it was a ton of fun. Will I do this again? Heck yeah!

Trip report - Part II

Okay, so where was I?

So after the Grand Canyon we headed back to Las Vegas. The next morning (late though coz we were pooped!) we drove about half an hour to BEAUTIFUL Red Rock Canyon. I love it there and could actually picture myself living in the area. The area looks fairly new but there are still a lot of developments going on. Can you just imagine the canyons as the view from one of your house windows? Also, for a mere $20/year, you have unlimitted access to the national park where they have trails, rock climbing, and a 13-mile scenic drive where people also go biking! HEAVEN!!!





We did an impromptu 2 mile hike, as indicated by the inappropriateness of the attire...LOL! I thought we were just going to do the 13-mile drive but we got taken in by the majesty of the place. I was wearing sandals and it kept sinking into the sandy ground. Thankfully, the weather was mild which made the hike more bearable. I couldn't do too much rock climbing because of the sandals. Plus, I'm not too fond of heights. ;) I went on some of the lower rocks though. That was fun!

On our last day we just walked the strip. Pictures below are of one of the lions in the Lion's Habitat at MGM Grand. They sleep ALL DAY! Wish I had that luxury! The last picture is of me next to the Golden Crocodile at the Mandalay Bay Aquarium.





During our stay in Vegas, we also caught 2 Cirque du Soleil shows: Mystere and Love. I highly recommend Mystere. Love was okay. The music was great since it's form The Beatles repertoire. However, I wasn't too impressed with the acrobatics. It just might be me. We caught the 10:30 pm show for Love which is late for me, especially considering all the walking we did during the day. Also, Mystere, which was the first show we saw, was so awesome that I set my expectations too high for Love. I really really wanted to see Ka, but the tickets cost much more than the average and my brother, who set up the trip, was insistent on seeing two shows. I wish we only saw one show, preferably Ka. We really stretched ourselves too thin on this trip.

Overall, I was exceptionally pleased with the trip. Vegas was definitely unique. Also, the FOOD! There were just so many selections, and not many were healthy! We ate at the buffets several times because of the convenience. Although I tried to not go all out crazy, I still ate more than normal. Because everything in Vegas (ie: food) was expensive, I felt guilty eating too little at the buffets. I felt I wasn't getting my money's worth...LOL!

Besides all the walking, I didn't get any workouts in. Not even a run on the strip. I did do pushups, dips, lunges, and crunches in the hotel room. Where we stayed, you had to pay $25 to use the gym! And after my first day there, I wasn't too confortable running on the strip, which I regretted later on. Although the Vegas strip is considered safe, I did see some questionable looking individual/peddlers there. As I said, I did regret it later on because I saw a couple of runners here and there.

Oh, I just found out that Olympia was held there during my stay! I was wondering why I was seeing all these buff women around. I didn't see anyone I would recognize though. The women I saw were, in my opinion, too buff to the point that they could be considered masculine. To be honest, they look like they're on steroids.

And that concludes my trip to Vegas...LOL!

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FITNESS

I came back last Tuesday and I only started working out this Monday. Talk about slacking! My running sucks! I can't even run 20 minutes straight! I know I can do it, but there seems to be some mental block preventing me from doing it. Like I said, I have a 5K in less than 2 weeks and I have to get it together by then. I think I'm going to get those hypnosis tapes to help me look forward to my workouts again. The good news is that I weighed myself today after my workout and I maintained my weight from before Vegas...108 lbs. Don't know if weighing myself is a good idea though. It gives me an excuse to continue slacking off.

Oh, and my gym got new elliptical machines! I haven't tried them out yet, but they look pretty swanky! I overheard a woman in the locker room telling her friend that she likes the new machines because the magazine tray is closer to her and she's able to read better. I wanted to tell her "Girl, if you're able to read you're not working hard enough!".

Trip report - Part I

Hey y'all! I'm back! As promised here are a few pictures from my Vegas trip. I went with my parents and my one brother.

Here are some pictures from our first day there. We arrived the night before, ate a small dinner, walked a little bit of the strip, then went back to the hotel to sleep.




The next day, we woke up early and drove to the Grand Canyon. We stopped by the Hoover Dam first:


...and approx. 4 hours later, we were arrived at the Grand Canyon!



We were able to drive along the Desert View Drive and see the spectacular sunset at Lipan Point.

We stayed at Tusayan overnight then spent half a day the following day at the Grand Canyon National Park. We hiked the rim a little bit and explored the Hermit's Point Drive. In the morning, we saw some rare wildlife...a group Desert Bighorn Sheep! Really cool!





After that, we said goodbye to the Grand Canyon and headed back to Las Vegas.

Part 2 to follow. Blogger is not letting me post some more. CRAP!

Anyways, I think I left my mojo in Vegas. I'm having a hard time getting back to working out. And my 5K is in less than 2 weeks! YIKES!

See y'all later!

I'm off to my first vacation of the year! No Europe this year, but I'll be going to the City of Sin!



This vacation couldn't come at a better time. I sooo need a break from work. Although this is a vacation, I know we'll be doing a lot of walking. I'll also try to run on the strip at least once. And I'll try to limit on the buffet. ;)

The only thing is I'm going to miss The Biggest Loser and Dancing with the Stars. :(

Maybe it's time to invest on a TIVO.

Bye all! I'll try to post some pictures when I get back.

Still around....

Yeah, I'm still here. Just super busy at work, which translates to super tired when I get home.

Anyhoo, my workouts are going great for the most part. Hit or miss, but mostly hit. :) Shin splint is almost gone. I've kept on running, but still taking it easy while it heals. Seems to work for me.

Today, I finally got on the scale. I haven't been on a scale in MONTHS! I figured since I still fit in size 2's and sometimes 0's, I'm still doing okay. After my workout today, I was stretching in this small room where they have a digital scale and I got curious. So I hopped on there and wouldn't you know! I can now officially say that I am no longer eligible to donate blood. 108 lbs!!! I've been hovering at 110 lbs for so long and it was at that weight when I last checked. Now, I'm only 5'1 so I'm in the appropriate weight range. And I am still eating 5-6 meals a day, and sometimes more when I get an extra run in for the day. Think of cookie1135 from tracker. She's 5'1 like me and her final weight was 100 lbs. So yes, I'm still okay.

Speaking of cookie, where has she been lately? I haven't seen her post in a while.

Oh, and I'm so psyched! Biggest Loser starts tonight! I can't wait!

5 Years Later...

Does it ever get easier? This morning on my way to work, I was listening to my normal country station. Since it's the anniversary of 9/11, they were playing country songs with patriotic themes and also taking calls and reading emails recalling where you were on 9/11. Well, the host started reading an email from this guy who worked at the WTC North Tower. His workplace was on the 78th floor. That morning, he just happened to come in earlier than usual, so him and a couple of his co-workers decided to head down to the cafeteria on the 40-something floor to have breakfast. They were there when the first plane struck his tower. He was recalling how he was coming down the stairs and encountering so many people also trying to get down and how people were helping each other. There was a guy on a wheelchair that they volunteered to help down the stairs, but he decided to stay behind so he doesn't clog up the stairs. He was also recalling the firemen going upstairs while everybody was going down. Let me just say, that by the end of the email, I was bawling my eyes out! Sheesh!

Anyways, on to lighter topic....

Last week completely sucked! Notice my lack of update? Well I was super duper busy at work! It was just stressful time. It was aggravated by the fact that my director, who is basically in charge of my group, announced that she was leaving the group to move up to a higher position within the company. Can't say I blame her, but I'm sad for us! She's probably THE BEST boss I have ever had! She's super nice, fair (a rare trait in Corporate America especially at her level), and just on the ball with things. When you encounter a difficult situation, which we often do, she seems to have the answer on the tip of her fingertips. She's been in our group for quite a while, and basically built it up to well-respective group that we are now. She's a big reason why I LOVE my current job, in spite of the stress. We're all still in shock with the announcement, and I know that some people are worried because we won't have her to run to. We all basically have to step up to the plate. Like my job needs more challenge right now!

Anyways, I let stress at work get to me, which in turn affected my normal routine. Needless to say, I only worked out 3X last week.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that I have shin splints AGAIN? Ugh!!!! The week before I was on a roll. I ran 5 days straight (one being light running w/ my mom) which probably didn't help. Also, on the 5th day, I ran faster than expected. I ran at this park which has a flat trail. I had "Fighter" by Christina Aguilera playing in my iPOD, and I'm usually just passing the 2-miles marker by the end of the song. Well, on this day and not doing it on purpose, I have already passed the 2.5 miles by the end of the song! And this was first thing in the morning on an empty stomach! WTF! It felt awesome, but I think I may have gone too fast too soon which caused the shin splints. I'm taking it easy for now. This Saturday, instead of running outside, I ran on the treadmill at moderate pace. I didn't run yesterday or today to give it a rest. I'm planning on running outside tomorrow afternoon, which hopefully will not be too bad.

And I'm happy to say that I'm off to a great start this week. Got my cardio done first thing this morning - 40 minutes on the eliptical (20 minutes HIIT, 20 minutes MISS) and ab bootcamp.

On to more lighter topic....

DTWS...I can't wait!!!! Tomorrow night! And not only do we get to watch the stars dance and compete, we get to see and hear our very own Bevy sing! I'm very excited!

And, The Biggest Loser starts September 20!!!! Yay!