Turning Flab into Fab

Thursday: May 27th
Decided I should go out for a run. It was rough...

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	Calories
1.60	19:44	12:22	167	177

Friday: May 28th
I was hyper (without sugar) and decided that I wanted to go on a Mountain Bike ride. So I bounded over to Victoria and pestered her until she agreed (for her health benefits) that she wanted to go on a mountain bike ride with me. So Matt helped me get her bike ready and then my bike ready. I even learned how to put a new tube in my tire. We went on the wood chip trails behind the house. I managed to make it the entire way without falling while Victoria took a fun tumble into the mud. All in all we both seemed to be smiling at the end.

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	Calories
1.60	18:42	11:48	128	176

Monday: May 31st
Victoria and I took advantage of the Memorial Holiday and the warm weather and went out Kayaking in the morning. We went to Lake Audubon in Reston where we paddled around for about 1 hour. It was enjoyable and I got to see some of the cool houses on the lake.

Tuesday: June 1st
Hot, humid, and sore leads to no running and instead yoga. I pulled out my yoga/pilates dvd and did that for an hour. Some was easy and some of it was difficult. eh


Sunday: June 6th
I got the ball rolling and got Matt and Melissa to join me on a road bike ride in the morning. I am currently borrowing Zoya's old road bike to see if I like it (and want to spend that much $$ on a bike).

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	Calories
22.0	2:10:00	5:26	153	2,105

The things that I learned: it is better not to put all of your weight on your wrists, and I need padded shorts...


Monday: June 7th
The weather was perfect, 74 degrees, low humidity, and a little bit of a breeze. At the start of the run I could feel some tension in my neck/shoulders probably due to the bike ride yesterday. My running goal I have been working towards is: 2 miles non-stop at a 12:00 min/mile. As of yet, I have not achieved it. That was until today! And to make it even better, I was able to keep my average heart rate where it is supposed to be!!

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	Calories
2.01	23:08	11:32	173	236

Yay for a great run. Now I just have to keep it going and soon I can set a new goal.

Simple Logic

If you eat ice cream + sprinkles + bonbon + sharp cheddar cheese then it will be a rough run.

I was 1/2 motivated when I got home and then I decided I was hungry for junk food...which is not productive in losing weight...So after letting the delicious unhealthiness digest I went out for a run.

Moday May 24th. Today's run was slightly better, when you consider the pace. However, I still had to walk twice...

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	Calories
2.00	24:48	12:21	152	224

So to completely counteract my run, for dinner I headed to Chipotle. So I have declared today my pig-out day and now I need to do better...here's to salads and fruit....

Graduate School is Finished!

Graduation was wonderful and it just reinforced how lucky I am to have such wonderful, loving, and supportive family and friends! My heart most gratitude and love goes to all of you. I know that even though a few could not make the trip to be here in person, they were with me in spirit.

Now that my graduate classes and my graduation is done I finally have a bit of time to focus on getting back into my shorts.

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May 20th: Thursday. Rough "run". This was my 1st run since the beginning of the month. My legs felt very heavy and tight. I had to stop twice to walk.

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	Calories
2.00	27:25	13:43	126	232

I was surprised at how sore and tight my legs were after this short run. I decided I would give my legs a bit of a break on Friday and instead of running joined Matt down at Mead's place for a bit of a BBQ.

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May 22nd: Saturday. Small improvement. My legs were still a little stiff but as soon as I started running they felt better. This run I was able to stay with my Virtual Partner and only lagged behind when I hit a hill on the way home and had to walk. Once again I had to walk twice, but this time the walks were shorter and I was able to run faster so the overall time wasn't as pitiful.

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	Calories
2.00	24:54	12:28	126	225

I am considering participating in a 1/2 marathon. But only if in the next month I can get my distance up and my time down a bit. Right now my Virtual Partner is set to 2 miles at a 12:00 min/mile. Today was an improvement, but still a way to go so it is consistent. I have the opportunity to borrow a road bike and see if I like it, but I just need to make the time to visit the friends and pick it up.

The Green Machine

I have finally gave in a bought myself a new running "watch" which might really be considered a wrist-computer. This thing will tell me: Distance, Pace, Heart Rate, Calories, and GPS. So far, the new toy has been a great incentive to run.

The other motivator has been Victoria going with me. It helps motivate me to motivate someone else. It is easier to give myself excuses than it is to be the excuse for someone else.

I bought my watch on Saturday and have already gone for 3 jaunts.

Sunday: With Victoria
We went 2.58 miles in 50:58 minutes. Most of it was walking, but it is a great way to get back into shape. I burned 227 calories. So far she did not seem too discouraged!

Monday: First run in forever.
I have gotten the Dr's permission to run so I tried to go for a 2 mile jog to see how it felt. It was rough, but I finished. I managed to run 1.80 miles in 25:29. This means 14:11 min/mile. Boooo. I did burn 233 calories, but that is to help offset the donut and cupcake I had today (Complements of Teacher Appreciation Week).

Monday: With Victoria
Convinced her to walk today and then it started to downpour big cold drops and that convinced her to run. :) Blue was not very happy about the rain. We managed to go 1.6 miles in just over 33 minutes. Not too shabby.

Time to be productive in other areas. I wish I could take all of the time for awhile and get back into shape.

Mrs. Potato Head Lips

I could easily get back in shape if I never had to work! This week is my Spring Break and I have done well about being active.

Sunday, March 28th:
I ran 3 miles in 37 minutes. This equals a 12:20 min/mile. I was able to keep an average heart rate of 174. The first 1.5 miles felt great. After that I struggled and ended up walking quite a bit. My legs felt very heavy. At least, my blood blister/callous isn't getting any worse.

Monday, March 29th:
I ran for another 2 miles, in just over 22 minutes. Averaging a 11:25 min/mile. I did great with my heart rate and was able to keep the average to 141. (Seems kind of suspicious...). On this run I passed a friendly lady with Mrs. Potato Head Lips!!

After my run, I did a cool down walk with Blue, where we walked another 0.8 miles. We would have kept going, but it started to get cold and rain was blowing sideways so we decided to turn around.

Tuesday, March 30th:
I decided Blue earned a long walk, so we headed out for a walk (with many stops to sniff at each of the trees and fire hydrants). We walked 2.2 miles and he was definitely tired by the end.

Wednesday, March 31st:
I had great intentions today to go for a bike ride. I even: got dressed, filled up the camelbak, got my bike helmet on, went out to the bikes and realized, not gonna happen. My bike (which I knew) has a punctured tire so I was planning on riding Matt's, until I realized his has clip pedals and I've never ridden with my feet attached to the bike. (I decided it would be better to try this when people were around if I needed help). So, back inside I went and then took Blue out for a walk. All in all, great intentions, but no highlight for today.

The rest of the week:
I will go for a run tomorrow. And then, we are going to the Bahamas!! We might be bringing our tennis rackets, we are gonna do a intro scuba lesson, maybe some running on the beach, swimming, and most importantly...RELAXING!!!

3 runs, 2 walks

I'm not doing well about exercising. At least some of the days I have been motivated by my neighbor.

I ran:

• 3 miles in 36 minutes (~12 min/mile) on March 5th.
• 2 miles in 23 minutes (~11:30 min/mile) on March 8th
  
• 2 miles in 22 minutes (~11 min/mile) on March 22nd.
  

I have walked with Victoria & Blue

• 1.8 miles in 35 minutes on March 23rd.
• 2.1 miles in 47 minutes on March 26th.

My heart rate monitor has not been working. I think it will soon be time for a new watch, not quite sure which one would be the best.

Last week, the weather got chilly near the end. It had been gorgeous (mid/high 70's) and then later in the week only up to the low 50's. It is kind of gloomy now, but I think I am going to run. I am on my spring break so I hope to get in some good runs this week. The biggest excitement is, on Friday we are headed to the Bahamas for 4 days!

2 Runs, about 1 Month apart

On Monday January (Yes, I said January) I had the opportunity to go for a run. I went for 2 miles in 23 minutes. This means I averaged 11:30 min/mile. My average heart rate was 164. Truthfully, it was so long ago I don't remember it.

Mother Nature has made it difficult to run outside this year. We have had a historic snowfall. I thought I moved south to get away from all of the snow. We did manage to have some fun between all of the shoveling. Great neighbors made shoveling 30+ inches at least a little tolerable.






Today my schedule & mother nature have finally worked together and I got out for a run. (First run in 34 days). I ran 2 miles in 22:45. This works out to an 11:22 min/mile. My average HR was 171. My knees were a little sore at the start, but then were fine.

Here's to getting back on track...need to look great in 75 days!!!