3/27/2011

Training schedule says I will do: 6 miles

I actually did: 6.12 miles*

*7.12 miles using Aubree's Bonus Mileage System, getting 1/4 extra mile per 1/2 mile traveled up hill and 1/2 extra mile for temperature less than 20.  Technically it was 27, but "felt like" 18.  I checked with Aubree who said that counts. (This run felt really hard, so I wanted as many bonus miles as I could get!)

Days to go until the marathon: 180

Miles to go until 1000: 942.62

Red Hot Chili Peppers song played during the run: No

On today's run, I thought a lot about mom guilt and actually questioned whether I should really be training for a marathon.  There is no question that I am a happier person when I run, and that I run on a more regular basis, at least right now when I'm not getting uninterrupted sleep at night ever, when I have a training schedule to follow.  So in that regard, I think that my running benefits my family.  But on the other hand, for the forseeable future, I will be away from home for at least an hour every Sunday morning.  Which may not be a huge deal, except that I am already away from home for 10 or so hours Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 5+ hours on Tuesday.  I am really lucky that my husband stays home with my son so at least I know he is under the care of someone who loves him as much as I do.  And I know that it is because I work that 1) my husband is able to stay home, and 2) we are able to eat, so I shouldn't feel guilty about going to work every day, but I do.  And then I add Sunday mornings away from home on top of it?  Today in particular, I ran while my husband fed my son breakfast, which usually I do on the weekends.  I don't think I should stop running (in addition to making me happier, I'm hoping it will inspire my son to be active -- although I don't know if there are many races for the <1 year old set), so I guess I'm hoping maybe I can stop feeling guilty about it . . .

3/25/2011

Training schedule says I will do: 35 minute run

I actually did: 37:04 minutes/2.95 miles*

*3.075 miles using Aubree's Bonus Mileage System, getting 1/8 extra mile for running in the dark

Days to go until the marathon: 182

Miles to go until 1000: 948.76

Red Hot Chili Peppers song played during the run: No

Today's run was kind of pathetic.  It feels pathetic to write about and it felt pathetic while I was doing it.  This morning I was awoken at 3 by my adorable little alarm clock, who wanted to be fed.  So I nursed him and tried to put him back to bed, but he kept crying when I put him in his crib so finally I took him to bed with me.  I probably fell back to sleep around 3:30 or 3:45, but was in a deep sleep when my less adorable actual alarm clock went off at 4.  Not only did I not want to wake up, but I was snuggled next to my little guy so I didn't want to get out of bed.  Honestly, the only reason I got up and ran at all was because I didn't want to admit on here that I skipped 3 days in a row.  (So thank you, blog!)  So I started out my run feeling bitter.  The fact that it was cold (26, although it felt colder; I was sure I'd get bonus miles for the temperature until I got home and looked up what the temperature actually was) didn't help.  I didn't even feel compelled to sing along with the chorus to Candyman's "Knockin' Boots" when it played on my ipod ("Ooh, boy, I love you so, never ever ever gonna let you go, once I get my hands on you.  Ooh boy, I love you so, never ever ever gonna let you go, I hope you feel the same way too."), so you know I was in a bad mood.  But, I told myself I'd run at least a mile because the first mile is always the worst.  (I'm reminded of the New Balance commercial about how the first mile sucks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAteXYqCV7E)  And then once I got to a mile I was ALMOST to the time I was supposed to turn around, so I decided I'd just keep going.  You can see that I did what I was supposed to do, 35 minutes, but didn't travel very far.  We'll try not to calculate my distance/time ratio.  And I never really got out of my bitterness until my run was almost over, so apparently the first 3 miles are the worst?  Or maybe today was just a bad day.  Either way, tomorrow I get to sleep in (Russell willing), and Sunday's run will be better!

3/23-3/24/2011

I have been slacking AGAIN!!  Yesterday I was scheduled to do 45 minute run, and today was scheduled to be a day off.  Yesterday I got up, got dressed, went outside to run, only to discover that the snow that had been falling on me during my previous day's run, had stuck to the ground and the sidewalks and roads were slick.  So I decided not to run that day and figured I'd just run today, and switch the running day with the day off this week.  In retrospect, I should've done strength training or something since I was already in my workout clothes, and I wasn't able to go back to sleep.  At any rate, this morning when my alarm went off, all I could think was "but today's a day off" so I didn't get up.  Slacker!  Tomorrow I'm scheduled to do a 35 minute run so I'll probably do a longer one to try and make up for it a little.  Next week, hopefully, there won't be any snow and I'll actually feel refreshed after the weekend (since I've had some sort of work-related activity every day since 3/7 but have 2 days off this weekend), so no more excuses and no more slacking!

3/22/2011

Training schedule says I will do: 40 minute run

I actually did: 43:59 minutes/3.93 miles*

*4.68 miles using Aubree's Bonus Mileage System, getting 1/2 extra mile for the wind and 1/4 extra mile for falling snow

Days to go until the marathon: 185

Miles to go until 1000: 951.71

Red Hot Chili Peppers song played during the run: No (But J. Lo's Aint It Funny played for the second run in a row.)

This morning when my alarm went off at 4, I turned it off because on Tuesdays I only work half a day.  And it has been really warm and sunny, so I thought instead of running in the dark, I'd just run in the afternoon with Russell in the jogging stroller.  Little did I know it was windy and snowy out, and that the snow would only fall more and the wind would only blow harder as the day went on.  But, at least it wasn't too cold (32, feels like 20, per www.weather.com).  No, I did not subject Russell to those conditions!

If I haven't already mentioned it, I'm totally over winter and ready for the spring.  So go away, snow!

3/21/2011

Training schedule says I will do: OFF

I actually did: 1.37 mile walk with my dogs and Russell in the Ergobaby

Days to go until the marathon: 186

Miles to go until 1000: 955.64 (I didn't give myself any miles toward my goal today, because if you know my dogs, you know this wasn't a work out!)

3/20/2011

Training schedule says I will do: 5 miles

I actually did: 4.94 miles*

*5.44 miles using Aubree's Bonus Mileage System, getting 1/4 extra mile per 1/2 mile traveled up hill; I ran uphill for 1 mile

Days to go until the marathon: 187

Miles to go until 1000: 955.64

Red Hot Chili Peppers song played during the run: No (the Chili Peppers stats now stand at 25%.  This means one of two things.  Either I grossly overestimated how often they play when I run, or my ipod is exhibiting a Hawthorne effect, a phenomenon in which when a behavior is being studied, that behavior changes simply because it is being studied.  I personally think it is the latter.)

I have already commented on how I think my ipod makes little jokes or points by the songs that it chooses and the order in which it chooses them.  Like today, it played "Dance, Dance" and then "Dancing Queen", which made me smile.  But then later, it played "Magic Man" by Heart.  This song always reminds of my friend Heidi, who is one of my best friends from medical school, and a fellow karaoke enthusiast.  This is one of her favorites to sing, and she does a great job at it.  What you need to know about Heidi is she is a performer, she may not be the best singer up there (which is not to say she's bad, she definitely has a nice voice), but she totally owns her songs.  I was thinking in particular today about the first time she sang this song, and came upon the 48 measure musical break near the end.  48 measures!  That is a lot.  People like me, who really like singing but feel like a fool when there are no words to sing, absolutely dread even a 4 measure musical break.  But not Heidi, she can handle a musical break like it's nothing.  But that first time, the 48 measures were a little long even for her.  She filled it with grace, dancing around and at one point even started swinging the microphone which got her into trouble from the KJ.  Remembering this made me almost laugh out loud while running, and definitely made me miss Heidi.

The very next song that played was Sugar Ray "Every Morning", which reminds me of my friend Janae, another of my best friends from medical school (Heidi, Janae and I called each other Virchow's triad, which is funny if you are a medicine dork like we are).  Janae only sings karaoke if she is in a foreign country or in my living room, which is where she sang "Every Morning".  No microphone swinging for her, but she sang it in the context of playing Karaoke Revolution in which her avatar ("Cherry") totally owned the stage.

How nice of my ipod to make me think of two wonderful friends!

3/19/2011

Training schedule says I will do: OFF

I actually did: 1.01 mile snowshoe trip

Days to go until the marathon: 188

Miles to go until 1000: 960.58

Red Hot Chili Peppers song played during the run: n/a

 

My family and I went snowshoeing today, which may not count as a workout, but about half of it was up a steep hill so it sure felt like a workout!

3/18/2011

Training schedule says I will do: 35 minute run

I actually did: nothing

Days to go until the marathon: 189

Miles to go until 1000: 960.58

Red Hot Chili Peppers song played during the run: n/a

 

I know, you're thinking "It's only the first week of training and already she is skipping work outs."  I promise this is not going to be the norm!  I was out of town at a conference, and totally intended to run there, but my only option would've been to run on a treadmill.  I'd rather poke my eyes out than run on a treadmill.  So I didn't.  I'll try not to let it happen again!

3/17/2011

Training schedule says I will do: OFF

I actually did: nothing

Days to go until the marathon: 190

Miles to go until 1000: 960.58

Red Hot Chili Peppers song played during the run: n/a

 

No run = no deep (or not-so-deep, as it were) thoughts.  Maybe tomorrow!

3/16/2011

Training schedule says I will do: 40 minute run

I actually did: 43:30 minutes/3.72 miles*

*3.845 miles using Aubree's Bonus Mileage System, getting 1/8 extra mile for running in the dark

Days to go until the marathon: 191

Miles to go until 1000: 960.58

Red Hot Chili Peppers song played during the run: No 

During today's run, I spent my time thinking about one very specific way in which my life has changed since becoming a mother.  Of course, the ways in which my life have changed could fill a book, but today I was thinking particularly about how my tv viewing has changed.  For an ordinary person, this might not matter much, but I have always been something of a tv idiot savant.  Seriously, I knew information about the plots of tv shows I'd never seen (this is partially because I used to faithfully read an online column by the TV Gal, but I had to break up with her several years ago because she not once but twice printed in her column word for word  something I had said in an email to her without attributing it to me; which wouldn't be a big deal except she was constantly saying things like "TV Gal reader Kevin says . . .", so it wouldn't have killed her to give me a little TV Gal love).  But now, I am at best a casual viewer which is a little disconcerting.

I started thinking about this because the song "Don't You Want Me" played on my ipod, and it reminded me of the episode of Glee where Rachel and Kurt's boyfriend (Blaine?  The fact that I can't remember his name right now pretty much proves my point) sang that song.  Which got me to thinking about Glee.  I really enjoy that show, but I watch it when I can and I can't honestly say that I spend much time thinking about the show when I'm not watching it (except, apparently, when I run).  Contrast this to Jessica of the past.  I can think of two very specific examples when I could barely contain my excitement over a show that was going to be on that night.  The first was in 2000, the season 3 finale of Dawson's Creek when Joey was going to choose between Dawson and Pacey.  The second was in 2004, the episode before the season 1 finale of Veronica Mars when we were going to learn who killed Lily.  (I won't give away the answers, just in case anyone reading this hasn't yet gotten to these episodes yet!)  I very distinctly remember spending a good amount of time on each of those days thinking about those shows and looking forward to them.

Now, I not only can't think of a recent time I have anticipated a tv show (maybe a Lost season premiere a couple years ago, which isn't really that recent), but I also watch and know so much less about tv.  I can only partially blame this on my son, even though he is definitely the reason I watch less tv.  But I don't think he's the reason I don't anticipate tv anymore (although I guess you could make the argument that I now know what's really important in life, and a love triangle between fictitious verbose teens isn't on the list), I think the blame for this falls to my DVR.  Don't get my wrong.  I love my DVR.  It revolutionized my life.  But now I don't have to watch a show when it is on, and therefore spend all day anticipating it; I can watch it whenever I want which makes each episode a little less special.  AND, I don't watch commercials anymore, which I think is where some of the knowledge in my idiot savant days was acquired.  

I suppose what all this really means is that I'm a *gulp* grown up.  Damn it!

Aubree's Bonus Mileage System

Note: I did not get permission from Aubree to publish her bonus mileage system here, but I'm pretty sure she won't mind.  I thought I'd put it up here for all to see!

Extra Weight:

• 0.25 mile per extra ten pounds (strollers, children, groceries)

Less than Desirable Weather conditions:

• Wind: additional ½ mile, unless you are being pushed by the wind= no bonus
• Rain: at least ¼ mile bonus for going out in the rain (see other conditions for additional miles that may be earned)
• Temperature over 80: at least ¼ mile bonus for going out in the heat (see other conditions for additional miles that may be earned)
• Snow & Ice:: temperature under 20 degrees: 1/2 mile bonus; snow falling = ¼ mile bonus; heavy snow through which you are running/walking = ¼ mile bonus  

Illness:

• Cold: bonus mile for even making the effort
• Headache: ¼ mile bonus, because often headaches improve, but additional ¼ mile if it makes you feel worse
• Stomach ailments: ½ mile for going out, because it is possible that you shouldn’t be working out and increasing possible dehydration, but maybe you’re feeling better and up for it, so why not try? 
  • Bonus ½ mile if you develop stomach issues during a race, because that would just suck!

Terrain:

• Hills: bonus ¼ mile per every ½ of uphill
• Unpaved terrain: bonus 1/8 mile for every ½ mile of unpaved/rocky/sandy/chunky terrain

Other Conditions for bonus:

• ¼ mile bonus for each piece of clothing that gets soaked through (i.e. wet shirt, wet socks, wet pants, wet underwear, wet sports bra=1.25 bonus miles ) 
  • Note: socks although 2 items, only count as one for bonus miles, unless you only hit a puddle with one foot and consequently you only have one wet sock.
• ¼ mile bonus for each layer of clothing that is sweat through (sports bra, shirt, etc)
• 1/8 bonus anytime the level darkness calls for reflective workout gear
• ½ bonus anytime you do 10 miles or more
• 1 mile bonus if you’re stuck walking when you didn’t intend to be (i.e. broken down car, locked out of your house, missed the bus, ran out of a gas, etc.)
• ¼ mile per month of pregnancy

3/15/2011

Training schedule says I will do: 35 minute run

I actually did: 39:29 minutes/3.56 miles*

*3.685 miles using Aubree's Bonus Mileage System, getting 1/8 extra mile for running in the dark

Days to go until the marathon: 192

Miles to go until 1000: 964.3

Red Hot Chili Peppers song played during the run: No (so far we are only 50% for the Red Hot Chili Peppers)

This was my first early morning (pre-6 am; I left my house at 4:35) run in a really long time, I think maybe since the day I found out I was pregnant with my son.  It was dark and coldish and for the first 5 minutes I wanted to just turn around and go home.  But then I started to remember that I love my early morning runs.  I did decide, however, that I should probably invest in some time of reflective gear.  I wore a headlamp, but wasn't sure how visible I was, so I only ran in places that had sidewalks.

I was trying really hard to have some deep thoughts about which to blog, after my realization the other day that my running thoughts are shallow.  But no such luck.  I literally spent 2 minutes thinking about the episode of Mr. Sunshine that we watched on DVR last night.  It might be 2 minutes more than anyone other than the show's producers and writers have ever spent thinking about that show.

3/14/2011

Training schedule says I will do: OFF

I actually did: nothing

Days to go until the marathon: 193

Miles to go until 1000: 967.86

I really intended to do yoga this morning even though technically I'm to take the day off.  I even got up when my alarm went off at 4:30 and fed my son so that he'd sleep though my workout.  But then between working all weekend, my son waking up at 12:30, and my dog loudly throwing up at 2:30 (from which I didn't fall asleep until after 3:15), I decided I just wanted to sleep for a little longer.  So no yoga today.

3/12/2011

Training schedule says I will do: 3 miles

I actually did: 2.91 miles*⁺

*3.91 using Aubree’s Bonus Mileage System with 1 bonus mile for pushing the jogging stroller.

⁺ I forgot to start my GPS watch right away, and I did the same run today that I did last week, which was 3.01 miles, so I’m pretty sure that was my real distance.  When I logged it in my 1000 mile log, I did so as 3.01 miles. 

Days to go until the marathon: 195

Miles to go until 1000: 967.86

Red Hot Chili Peppers song played during the run: Yes**

** This is a new statistical category.  Whenever a Red Hot Chili Peppers song plays on a run, I always feel like one always plays on every run which is strange, because I’m pretty sure there are only 2, maybe 3, Red Hot Chili Peppers songs on my ipod.  But I realized today that my evidence for this belief is really only anecdotal, I have no scientific proof to back it up.  So I’m going to start tracking it.

My marathon training has officially begun!!  I wasn’t technically scheduled to do this run until tomorrow, but I got off work early today (which means I got off on time, well actually it was about 15 minutes late), and it was sunny and in the 50s.  And I thought, “I could do the run now, in the sun in my capri running pants and a short sleeve shirt, or I could do it tomorrow morning at 4 am before work, on spring forward the clock day, with a headlamp and cold weather running gear.”  It didn’t really seem like a fair contest.

I was thinking today on my run about how I have spent a lot of recent run time thinking about celebrity breakups.  (Today a J Lo song played, and I started thinking about how P Diddy was the guest singer on American Idol this week, and I wondered if that was weird for her.)  When I ran in residency, I almost always spent my time thinking about patients I had seen and second guessing the medical decisions I had made.  I don’t know if the fact that now I spend my time thinking about things covered in Us Weekly rather than the New England Journal of Medicine means I am more confident in my abilities as a doctor, or if it just means I’m better at leaving work at work.  Either way, it makes me sound a bit shallow now that I’m blogging about my running thoughts! 

My son in the jogging stroller started crying with about 0.5 miles left on my run today.  I don’t know if he was getting cold or if I went over a curb a little too aggressively for his tastes.  I came around to the front of the stroller to see if he was ok, and he reached his little arms out to me, in the universal and unequivocal sign for “Mama, pick me up!”  If his sad little tear-stained face hadn’t already been enough to break my heart, that gesture certainly would’ve done it.  I kicked it into high gear for the rest of the run so I could get him home and in my arms, and actually averaged a 10 minute mile for the last half mile or so . . . that may not sound impressive, but remember I am SLOW.  My half marathon PR was just under an 11 minute mile, and I have been averaging 11.5-12 minute miles when I push the jogging stroller.  So I was pretty proud of that pace; thank you, maternal instincts!  You’ll be happy to know that he stopped crying the second we got home and I picked him up.

3/8/2011

Training schedule says I will do: N/A

I actually did: 1.94 miles* + 20 minutes aerobics (= 1 mile toward 1000 mile goal)

*I did 2.94 miles with my bonus 1 mile for pushing the jogging stroller per Aubree's Bonus Mileage System.  Since my last few runs have been sans munchkin, I definitely felt like I worked harder today; I think I earned that extra mile!!

Days to go until the marathon: 199

Miles to go until 1000: 970.87

I wasn't planning on running today (which is why I also did aerobics), but it was sunny and in the mid 30s, so I felt like I had to get out there.  The best part of the run, other than the great weather, was that I felt like my ipod had a brain and a sense of humor.  It shuffled from Metro Station's "Shake It" to AC/DC's "You Shook Me".  That cracked me up.  I'm obviously easily amused.  (Of course, the song after that was New Kids on the Block "Step by Step"; I'm not sure how that fits.)  It also seemed that my ipod could read my mind, as I was starting to get tired pushing the stroller when suddenly AC/DC said "She was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean, she was the best damn woman that I've ever seen . . ." so of course I couldn't slow down.  Good job, ipod.

3/7/2011

Training schedule says I will do: N/A

I actually did: yoga, 25 min (= 2 miles towards 1000 mile goal)

Days to go until the marathon: 200

Miles to go until 1000: 973.81

So I think my plan to force myself to do yoga enough so that I enjoy it is working, I actually really, really liked this workout.  I did an on demand workout from my cable company, and it was a lot of good stretching for a runner with a little core work thrown in.  It was great!

This morning I stepped on the scale, and noticed that I have gained 2 pounds since this whole blog experiment started.  To be fair, this adventure is about getting back into shape, not about losing weight, since I actually already weigh the same or a little less than I did before I got pregnant (thank you, breastfeeding), but the weight is distributed in a way that is, let's just say, less than flattering, and I'd like to change that.  But upward is definitely not the direction in which I wanted my poundage to trend.  Let's hope for a better number next week . . .  

3/5/2011

Training schedule says I will do: N/A

I actually did: 3.01 miles

Days to go until the marathon: 202

Miles to go until 1000: 975.81

I felt GREAT about my run today.  I was only cold for like the first half mile, and I never felt like I struggled.  It was almost like I was the old, pre-baby me.  It was great!  Oh, and I wore my new polartec running tights, and they totally rock.

Today's run was very thought-provoking, and not just about celebrity break-ups, although I did spend a little time thinking about Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz (sniff).  It all started when Beyonce's "Single Ladies" played on my ipod.  (By the way, I'm pretty sure that's the first time it has played during a run, but it now might be up there in my top 10 favorite running songs.)  I was thinking about my best friend Aubree, and how she wanted her bachelorette party to be called her "he liked it, so he put a ring on it" party.  That got me to thinking about friendship in general.  My husband recently took a 1-month plus hiatus from Facebook because he said it creates false friendships.  I think he's not wrong; since I pretty much don't decline a Facebook friend request from anyone, I have "friends" who I only vaguely remember from high school, and I am pretty sure I wouldn't know them if I saw them on the street.  Those are false friends, I agree.  But I also think Facebook is about more than that.  There are, of course, my good friends on there, with whom I would interact even without any kind of social media.  But then there are a whole group of in between people; people who were in my lives for a short period of time (sorority sisters or someone with whom I did a project in 10th grade English).  These people had left my lives, and I was ok with that, but now that they are back via Facebook, I really enjoy that too.  I wouldn't call that false.  


And furthermore, I think false friendships exist outside Facebook too.  I can think of examples of people who I call friends, but with whom I haven't spoken in I don't even know how long.  If someone were to ask me about them, I could give a fuzzy outline of what their lives are like (Oh, Sally*?  Yeah, she lives in Michigan and has 3 daughters.  She works as a nurse and her husband is named Garth*.  *Sally and Garth don't exist.  Ok, they might, but I don't know them), but that's about it.  All of these people get a yearly Christmas card from me (it pretty much takes an act of Congress to get taken off my Christmas card list), and with some I exchange yearly birthday cards (some have stopped remembering my birthday altogether, and for them I just ignore their birthdays, because I am petty like that.  But I do then feel guilty about "forgetting" their birthday for the next week).  All of these people were very important to me at some stage in my life, but that stage has passed.  It is likely that if we ever found ourselves living in the same town again, we'd be good friends again, although maybe they (or I) have changed so much in the years since we've been good friends, that that's not even true.  I don't know.  But in their current form, are these friendships any more real than the Facebook friends I have?  I know, heavy for a Saturday morning, huh?


The other thing I really thought about on my run was how much I like being a 30-something wife, mom, etc.  I like it for the obvious reasons (I love my husband and kid), but I also like it because I am comfortable with who I am in a way I haven't ever been before.  I recently moved back to my hometown.  This was done mainly so that my son could be around his grandparents, and so that we could raise him in a smaller place than our beloved adopted home of Portland.  As much as I felt (feel) that moving was the right thing to do for my son, I was also a little nervous, because whenever I would come back to visit in the 15 years I was away, part of me would turn into the insecure 16-year-old I once had been.  I was worried that that would happen when I moved back, which would somehow hinder my abilities as a doctor.  Thankfully, neither of these things has happened, and it took the following to make me realize it.  The background here is that I love to sing.  I do so without any vocal talent whatsoever, and I am ok with that.  When I was in high school (i.e. the aforementioned insecure 16-year-old), I would NEVER sing in my car when I was alone, for fear that someone might see me and think I looked stupid.  Today on my run, I heard not one but two songs that I just had to sing out loud (Quarterflash's "Harden my Heart" and Taylor Swift's "You Belong to Me".  Don't judge.), so I did, and I didn't care who saw or heard me.  I don't know if that is necessarily a good thing (mostly for passersby who had the misfortune of hearing me), but I'm ok with it anyway.

3/3/2011

Training schedule says I will do: N/A

I actually did: "yoga" (ok, really just a long stretching routine), 15 minutes

Days to go until the marathon: 204

Miles to go until 1000: 978.82

I did do some yoga poses, so I'm going to give myself credit for getting my yoga in this week, although mostly I was stretching to relieve soreness from the tough workout I did on Tuesday!  I am not counting this as mileage toward 1000.   

My marathon training schedule begins in a little over a week.  I'm a little nervous for the weekday runs, since I haven't exactly been successful at getting myself up in the morning to work out before work, even with all the pressure of my blog (and its 2 followers)! :)  I have always been better when I've got a training schedule to follow, so I hope that will be true in this case as well.  Now if I could just get my son to sleep through the night so that I could sleep through the night . . .

3/1/2011

Training schedule says I will do: N/A

I actually did: 0.87 miles walking* + Melt It Off cardio burn & sculpt and sizzlin' abs, 50 minutes (= 4 miles towards 1000 mile goal)

*If I use Aubree's bonus system, I walked 2.87 miles.  I get 1 extra mile for walking when I didn't intend to be (this morning my garage door was frozen shut, so I walked part way to work before I could get a hold of my mom to come pick me up) and I am giving myself 1 extra mile for the weather.  Technically per the official bonus mileage system guide, I only get 1/2 mile extra for a temperature less than 20 degrees.  But this morning when I was walking, it was 1 degree, and -19 with the windchill factor, so I decided that I should get an extra 1/2 mile for 20 to 0 degrees, and another 1/2 mile for 0 to -20 degrees.  I'm sure Aubree won't mind.

Days to go until the marathon: 206

Miles to go until 1000: 978.82 (I did not count any of the walking toward the 1000 mile goal)

Melt It Off is a workout video system created by Mitch Gaylord.  I discovered these videos on an infomercial.  I can be persuaded to buy just about anything from an infomercial, so I actually had to make myself stop buying workout videos from them (I think every workout video I own was purchased from an infomerical), but this one I got as a Christmas gift which I think is an acceptable loophole.

I have had a special place in my heart for Mitch Gaylord since the 1984 summer Olympics, during which he was on the men's gymnastics team.  These were the first Olympics I remember, and I fell in love with them watching them that summer.  I still LOVE the Olympics, thanks to Mitch and team.


The workout was broken into legs, arms, and then I did the additional ab workout.  The legs part was pretty tough . . . lots of lunges and squats and I think will be good for knee strength for running.  The arms part wasn't too bad.  I'll wait until tomorrow to see if I'm sore before I pass any final judgment.  The ab workout was KILLER.  I really struggled with it, and realized about halfway through that it was the first time I'd really done an ab workout since my c-section.  I am out of shape!  Luckily, I employed the Christmas gift loophole to also get the Bender Ball video for Christmas, so hopefully between these two, and all the other infomercial-propagated ab workouts I own, I can toughen up a bit.