Sunday, May 31, 2009

Happy Birthday(s) and other weekend news

I have several friends whose birthday's happen to fall on today and tomorrow. My favorite cousin, her brother, Soul Mate's sister and nephew, Sexy Hippy and her little rock star daughter and Legs! So...HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALL! I love birthdays...ahhh....

This has been a really low-key weekend for Trainer and I. We went to a birthday/congratulations party for Minnesota, as she turned 40 and got married, all in the same week. This was our "dry" weekend so we just stayed for a couple of hours and then went home to go to sleep. Saturday I went kayaking with Yoga Zen Babe down at Brushy Creek, which was super cool. We saw a lot of snakes and turtles in the water. Those of you that are squeamish, I won't take you there if you visit...promise. The coolest part was that in the three years that I have lived here I've never ventured to this park that is only 5-6 miles from my house! So, a big ass THANK YOU to YZB for showing me one more thing that I can love about Austin.

Had my massage Saturday afternoon and then we were just lazy. I actually cooked dinner instead of going to grab PeiWei or something else that was easy. I always have to remind myself that cooking at home is JUST as EASY as going out to eat. I didn't have much, but I did have frozen chicken tenders, balsamic vinegar, honey and couscous...wah-lah! Dinner - easy peasy! Healthy, didn't spend money....good stuff. Bed came early and I was out like a light within minutes of hitting the pillow.

Sunday, my favorite day...if it were only on Friday. Woke up, walked the pups, made breakfast, watched my sports shows and then we decided to go on a ride. Today was THE day. There are a couple of roads by my house that are really great for riding. One is called Parmer, my usual route, the one that I kicked ass on last week. The other one is called the 360 or The Capitol of Texas Highway. I've never been on 360 because it scares the crap out of me. Rolling hills and we're talking H-I-L-L-S! Trainer asked if I wanted to try it, and I did so off we went. He stayed relatively close by, making sure that I made it through the exits without becoming road kill. Yes, this is actually a highway, with exits and also stop lights. The speed limit is 60mph, although most people are going at least 70mph. The problem with the exits are that they are on hills...so it's almost impossible to book it through them.

There was no relief on this ride, none, nada. Just hills and pain and oxygen debt. We went 20 miles, that is all I could handle today. The kicker to this whole ride? On the way back, close to the end you have to ride up this terribly steep hill and it goes on forever. On some parts of the ride I got up to 35mph, and I could only squeak out 4.7mph on this hill. THAT is how steep it was.

Well, as soon as we got home Trainer went on a 5 mile run and I put on my swim suit, went to the gym and swam 850m. Needless to say I am done. Kaput. Tired. We ate (I was starving) at Galaxy Cafe, had coffee at Mozart's (and shared a piece of chocolate cake), then came home and crashed out. Of course I was out of food so I had to go to the grocery store...last thing I wanted to do...but I did it. Made dinner and now I'm blogging.

Oh, and on a side note...please be nice to cyclists. I know that some people think that they are a nuisance, but is it really going to kill you to wait an extra 5 flippin seconds to make a turn? We don't ride on the outer edge of the bike lane to be a pain in the ass. If you've ever LOOKED at the bike lane you'll notice that there is a TON of debris and if a car does start to come over into the bike lane the cyclist needs some place to go, over the edge is not a pleasant thought. So please, please, please...be nice, or at least tolerant.

Peace out and happy birthday(s) peeps!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

So close!

It's ALMOST Friday, almost...one last long day to go. And I just can't wait until it's over...yawn. I'm not used to working 12 hour days any more. My body hates it. This is my break, writing my little blog. Today I did get to take a lunch though, I forced myself to go swimming at lunch. Not that I didn't want to swim, just that with out Officemate here I hate leaving the phones and email unattended.

So far this week all I have done is swim, today, at lunch. Monday was a rest day. Tuesday was supposed to be a run day, but my running partner backed out at the last minute and by the time I got ready I could only take the pups for a walk. I intended to go to the gym at lunch and run, but that didn't work out. Then yesterday (Wednesday) the same thing happened. All the intentions were there - bag packed, motivated...but couldn't get away. Both nights I was home just after 8pm, made dinner and went to sleep.

Funny that sitting in a chair for 12-13 hours is more tiring than exerting myself physically. Hmm... Anyway, the swimming went well. All in all I swam 850m in drills. I was able to do 100m without "stopping" (that is holding the side and gasping for air) which I was pretty happy with. Last week I could only do 25m. I'm giving it a couple of more weeks to see how much my endurance improves to see if the Olympic is a possibility. Keep your fingers crossed!!!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The long 'short' week

It's Tuesday of a short week, which really makes it Monday...and we all know how short weeks turn into really long weeks. Plus, OfficeMate is out all week. She's on vacation, which she needed, just staying home. I can't seem to find that relaxing...just staying at home. The computer is there which means I'll be on it, which means I'll check my work email or play games...and then I feel like I'm wasting time, but not motivated to do much else?? I mean, if I'm going to waste time I'd like to waste it on a beach, snorkeling, reading or sleeping.

This was a great weekend though...Friday we went to the Hideout, even though we said we wouldn't. Then headed to the other bar that has my favorite beer on tap. I drank too much. Shocker - I know. However, when I woke up Saturday I felt really ill and couldn't remember the drive home...now, that hasn't happened to me since my 20s and it was a little unnerving to tell you the truth. And, in the big scheme of things I did drink a lot, but not enough to make me blackout. No more wheat beer for me, I'm convinced that it is evil. No drinking on Saturday, and we managed to eat at home ALL day! Lot's of hard rain that day so we sat at home with our freshly groomed pups and watched tv. No drinking involved.

Sunday was an AWESOME day. I woke up feeling MUCH, MUCH better and made us breakfast. Pancakes, yum! Watched 'The Sports Reporters' and then Sports Center after that and we got ready to go on a ride. There are days when you just feel strong and Sunday was this day for me. I was kicking ASS on the way out 16mph average and then on the way back...18mph!! So my average for the 25 mile ride was 17.4. I felt like I could have gone at least another 20 miles. Well, got back, changed and went out for a 2.6 mile run and did that in 27 min. Which I have to say is pretty impressive since that route usually takes me 29 minutes and that is first thing in the morning. To run it in 27 min AFTER riding 25 miles...well...again, I must say I felt pretty good about it. I think I've been ho-humming along, not really "training", just existing and exercising. Well...Sunday completed my first week of triathlon training.

I'm signing up for the Austin Triathlon on September 7th. There, now it's out there. I said it. The training schedule that Mid West Girl gave to me is for an Olympic tri. I'm still on the fence on which event I'll enter, either the Sprint or Olympic. The question is...can I do the swim? The other two parts are no problem. Add three more miles to my run on Sunday and I'm there. Just the swim. I bought a kick board this weekend and I'm really going to try to push myself. This blog will probably get a little boring with training talk over the next three months, however, if you've read this blog for any amount of time you know there is BOUND to be a funny story or two intertwined.

Sorry...up on my cloud...back down. We did go out Saturday evening, another place with great beer! I didn't drink very much, and no wheat beer, stuck with the dark heavy stuff...Porter...yum. Trainer got tanked, we traded...it was fun. We went home and played a game of Kissopoly which was semi-entertaining and then Trainer passed out...at 2am. Yawn. I had to get up at 7 for...

MONDAY! This was MWG's triathlon. She did the Capitol of Texas Tri, a HUGE event and she kicked booty! Her friend flew in from MD to watch and snap pictures. We were all over the course trying to give her encouraging shouts, I think it worked, she was smiling when she rounded the corner to the finish line. Such an inspiration. I'm hoping that I can get a group of girls together and we can call ourselves Tri Divas...or something like that! The only bad part about Monday was that I didn't think about wearing sunscreen and now I'm a little crispy. I got a little sick yesterday, chills, fever...touch of sun poisoning perhaps, it's happened before. A little irritated with myself since I know better. I should always carry it...but I didn't. So, in the next week I'll be flaking...ewww...

And then we're back to today... Got up and walked the pups this morning, today is a swim day. My schedule says that I'll be doing approx 800m in drills. Wish me luck!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Afternoon of 'cleanse' day

Well...I made it to 1pm. Yes, I'm weak. I was starving.

I went on all the 'lemonade cleanse' sites and they did address hunger. They said it could be cravings and that it was my body trying to get rid of the toxins. They said, "imgaine yourself eating a huge salad" and if that didn't quench the 'hunger' then you were having cravings. Well, I could have eaten about 3 cups of greens, so I was hungry. I tried to drink hot tea, water, more lemonade...still hungry. Stomach growling hungry.

Although, I did a bit of self-discovery on the way back to the office... (I broke down and had two string cheese things and then went home and ate a small quesadilla)... Okay, so, as much as I want to tell myself that there is nothing wrong with me and that I'm the exact same as everyone else I'm not.

How silly was it to try and do a liquid cleanse with no Dr. supervision with the kinds of medication that I take? I mean, it's one thing when I don't want to wear my medical bracelet or drink myself silly...but to not eat food at all will jack me up - fo' sho'.

1. If I don't eat any food and continue to take my medication (even for a day) my blood can get too thin because of my dosage.
2. If I don't take my meds for a day or three my blood can thicken up to the point of clotting.

Good options huh? It kind of pisses me off that I even have to think of these things, which of course I just pushed to the back of my head while I was plotting this whole thing. It doesn't make up for the fact that I broke down because of hunger, I mean this "epiphany" didn't come to me until after I had gobbled down some cheese....

Well, now I have some Grade B maple syrup and a small bag of lemons...and tomorrow my arse will burn because of the amount of pepper I ingested. Lovely. I guess I'll have to "cleanse" some other way. Boo.

I decided to do a cleanse...

The Lemonade cleanse or "The Master Cleanse" which should have scared me. You're supposed to do this cleanse for 10 days. Yeah right, I can't even get through one day of not eating sugar for goodness sake! My goal is 3 days and I'll be super happy if I make it through today. It's already looking iffy. I'm not doing it to lose the 10-15 pounds before the cruise, but to get all the crap (literally) out of my system so I can start my clean eating this weekend. No beer this weekend.

7am - Wake up time, was supposed to go to the gym at 5:30am, but stuff happens and Midwest Girl and I will go tonight. I feed the pups, drink my 16oz of Sea Salt water (gross) and then drink my first glass of the cleanse. It's actually pretty tasty. Like lemonade with a kick! I actually did my 'business' this morning! WOOHOO!

I head to work, things are shitty as usual. Officemate is grouchy for one reason or another...mood swings, it's crazy. My sales people are all on crack, my boss is just giving crap away...but, what should I expect for a Tuesday?

10am - Next glass of the cleanse. Still not bad, but put a little too much Cayenne pepper in it...ouch, that's going to hurt tomorrow I'm sure.

11:57am - Officemate is eating lunch, a peanut butter sandwich. I can smell it. The people in manufacturing are heating up their lunches...aww man! I guess almost time for the next helping. Apparently I'm supposed to drink 8 glasses of this today.

Okay, off to lunch. I'm going to go home and watch my dvr'd tv shows to take my mind off of food. Or maybe I'll sit outside and read. Maybe I should shop to distract myself??? I'll be back.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

And another couple of weeks pass

Some weeks just fly by whereas others drag their feet and are painstakingly long. That was this week. It seemed like everyone one in the office took "Eff Off" pills...at the same time. I'll attempt to recap the week...

Monday - Well...it was Monday, that should be enough to make it painful. I made steak for dinner. Exercise = nada.

Tuesday - Should have gone to the gym early, didn't make it. Had gym clothes with me to go after work, but found out that LSU's puppy was dying so I went over to her house instead. We drank wine and talked about how life can be cruel and unfair. Dinner was...well, wine...and when I got home I made a nacho dish...kind of. Exercise = nada.

Wednesday - Things started to look up on Wednesday. I started the day off with a run with The Democrat. Work was...eh, work. Then when I got home to change for YZB's and my kayaking session I saw a little package on the counter. Hmmm...what is this? I didn't open it because I didn't know it was for me. Kayaking was fabulous, the river that we kayak on was rockin and rollin, waves of two feet, which doesn't sound like a lot until you're actually ON the water in a tiny little boat. No exciting points like last week (wait, I didn't blog about that...long story short, the water was rough, the current was crazy and I was almost decapitated by the stone column that holds up the freeway overpass - just a slight exaggeration) but the water was challenging. I didn't even want to exercise since it was becoming the theme for the week. But, I'm glad we went out. When I got home dinner was made for me (yippee!) and that package on the counter was also for me. A very sexy teddy from Fredrick's with peekaboo cups. HOT, black and red lace...okay, slutty, but that's my style right? AND I got week night sex. Cannot beat that with a stick.

Thursday - My favorite day of the week. I rode to work, humid as HECK out. Nasty awful weather, but I did it...and on National Ride Your Bike to Work Week. Good for me! Midwest Girl and I were supposed to go on a long ride after work, but she had to cancel so at least I got some accidental exercise in. Dinner was salmon, a side salad and quinoa. Tasty. Trainer went to Walgreen's and bought me some Ben and Jerry's. YES! I finished the night with a bath reading US weekly.

Friday - Hehehe....oh Friday. Some of you received some weird ass messages on your phones at about 5pm my time...whoops. So the day started off like the rest of the week. At 11:40 I had to leave to get my v-jay-jay waxed (I just can't give this us no matter how much I have to scrimp and scrape) and my co-workers were all going to lunch. I really wanted to go with them, but the waxing NEEDED to be done. So, I told them that I'd call on my way back and see if they were still there...and they were. I arrived and ordered and they poured me a beer without my even asking. I usually don't drink at lunch because even after one beer I'm kind of tipsy. I blame it on the meds. PLUS, I have a thing about drinking and working...I don't know...maybe I'm just old fashioned? Oh wait, that used to be common practice in the "old days." Anyway, one lead to two...that lead to three...and I was toast. My co-worker drove me and my truck back to work. We gave a ride to another co-worker who happened to notice my tattoo as I got into the truck. Now he thinks I have a dark side...hahaha, he has NO idea how dark. ;) I tried to work (hahahahaha) for a bit and then sobered up to drive home.

Home - I get there and there is ANOTHER package on the counter!! For me? YES! I got the new Lady GAGA CD and more pieces for my lingerie collection. Two pieces, one was a sexy cupless bra (it's just basically the underwire with some lace padding at the bottom and the other piece was the matching panties, that highlight my tattoo on my back. I must say I looked pretty smokin...well, in my opinion (and Trainer's by the way things progressed!) After the 'fashion show' we went to the Hideout, our regular dive bar for dinner and a drink and then on to another bar down the road that has my favorite beer on tap and then back home for more beer and a little MORE fun...we skipped the Kissopoly this time.

And now it's Saturday. I got my eyebrows waxed this morning, came home for my massage and I have this message on my answering machine: "Hey...so my husband just told me that we're going on a cruise!! Call me!" This message is from Legs and indeed her husband is sending the two of us on a 4 night cruise!! Can you believe it??? I think I've mentioned that my Legs has been going through quite the time lately. She has two boys, one is 2 and the other is five months. The five month old (little cuddlebug) is the most laid back child, sweetest thing in the world and he was born with a bi-lateral cleft lip and palette. (correct me if I'm wrong!) When he smiles his whole face lights up as his smile literally goes from ear to ear and you just can't help but smile yourself, it's so fricken adorable. Now their two year old is very active, physically and mentally. He is already speaking in full sentences and asking LOADS of questions. Now, Legs' husband is a great guy, however like husbands tend to do...he really started taking Legs for granted.

I think I've told you stories of Legs and I. She is one of the most independent, well adjusted people that I know. She can multitask like no other and always puts herself last, especially when it comes to her family. Like a typical female she hopes that her husband will notice the incredible strain that she's under and will just help out. She, like most women, has given him the map, the instruction book, the play by play...yet he refuses to "read' and instead hopes that it will soon pass. Well...it passed alright. From her mouth to his ears and I'm sure in not the way that he would have liked. Anyway, I got a text message from him on Wednesday looking for suggestions and help. I know my girl very well....very, very well. So I suggested this awesome cruise and he was like "That is a GREAT idea!" Of course, my very 'type A' Legs was informed of her choices ahead of time, even though I knew she'd love the cruise. Why ruin the "surprise"?? Well, in my experience 'type A' people like to have some say in at least WHEN and WHERE, it tends to get a better reception. They don't really want to PLAN it, just have a little control. Legs played it off like a good surprised wife would do and of course now she can get all excited and buy new clothes with zero guilt attached.

Isn't life grand?? I think so. And now I just have to figure out how to lose 10-15 pounds in four weeks...do you think this means no beer?? Crap.

Friday, May 1, 2009

A short one

It is Friday...thank goodness!! And I did something good today, I rode my bike to work. As I was riding in I was wondering why I don't do it more often. I enjoy it, it's only about 20 minutes (WITH lights) of travel time. I get "accidental" exercise (Yoga Zen Babe gave me that one). So many benefits. But the fear of being stranded some place without a vehicle stops me. How silly is that?

Went to lunch with YZB today at this fabulous little English Tea House in Round Rock. Tasty, tasty, tasty...and not a frilly tea house, a warm, cozy dark wood with mustard walls tea house. We split two sandwiches - one with warm goat cheese, roasted peppers and caramelized onions and the other with chicken, Brie, caramelized onions and a raspberry spread. OMG. So divine, I needed a moment after my first bite. Ahhhh....bliss.

I'll write more this weekend. Just thought I'd pop in. Peace out!