Monday, October 31, 2011

A Day's Worth of Twitter

07:32:09 AM - @BodyMediaFIT I don't run with music. I often think I should.
09:33:32 AM - http://t.co/sd1VbMhy I ran over 100 miles this month. I beat my reach goal. (@TheNewChrissy)
07:12:20 PM - 53 trick-or-treaters so far. I've recognized maybe 5 costumes.
07:13:00 PM - @TheNewChrissy Did you walk a lot when you ran yours? I did a lot of walking but only 1 minute max each time. I also ran SLOW. ugh weather
09:32:38 PM - Yoga time. Then bed
10:02:28 PM - Poly does not let me perform yoga. She gets in my way. She hits me or walks under me
10:13:25 PM - Today should have been rest day but it was run, Body Pump, walk, and yoga day
10:52:38 PM - @mikecherepko my alarm clock I about that old but it was PB's before mine and I have wanted a new one for years but just use this one
10:58:21 PM - @BodyMediaFIT check out my workout goals and how I achieved them http://t.co/yttXC5rk
11:06:18 PM - @mikecherepko I found a wallet under my bed in college. Months after the guy lost it. Lots of stuff in it. He helped me put cinder blocks

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

October Workout Goals Completion

I achieved what I set out to achieve! I can't believe I made it!  I even met one reach goal.  What should I do differently for November? Dave said since I met them all I should increase them all by 10% and round up.
  1. Perform yoga 2 times. (once every other week)
    1. 10/29 - 30 minutes of P90x (a little at the beginning then skipped to balance)
    2. 10/31 - 36 minutes of P90x (got closer to the end this time by skipping more of the beginning)
  2. Attend Body Pump 5 times. 
    1. 10/7
    2. 10/12
    3. 10/25
    4. 10/26
    5. 10/31
  3. Lift weights 2 times on my own.
    1. 10/10 (26 minutes - upper body)
    2. 10/13 Shoulders (only 10 minutes)
    3. 10/26 - many pushups with feet up on ottoman
  4. Complete 16 cardio workouts (running, classes at the gym, exercise bike, or elliptical)
    1. 10/2 run
    2. 10/4 run
    3. 10/6 Cardio fusion
    4. 10/8 run
    5. 10/9 exercise bike
    6. 10/13 run then elliptical
    7. 10/14 run
    8. 10/15 exercise bike
    9. 10/16 run
    10. 10/18 run
    11. 10/22 run
    12. 10/23 run
    13. 10/25 exercise bike
    14. 10/26 run
    15. 10/27 run
    16. 10/29 run
    17. 10/31 run (before Body Pump)
    18. 10/1 AHA walk (shouldn't count but I'll document it here and hope for 17 total at the end)
    19. 10/7 - 5 hours of manual labor (hopefully won't have to count this)
    20. 10/9 yardwork + mowing (1 hour. very tiring) (hopefully won't have to count this either)
    21. 10/28 walk
    22. 10/29 walk
    23. 10/30 walk
    24. 10/31 walk (25 minutes)
  5. Do 10 ab workouts (chiseled core, P90x core ab ripperx, Body Pump, or on my own)
    1. 10/2 - 5 minutes of abs on my own
    2. 10/6 - 15 minutes of abs as part of cardio fusion
    3. 10/7 - During Body Pump Class
    4. 10/9 - 6 minutes on my own
    5. 10/10 - 5 minutes on my own
    6. 10/12 - part of Body Pump
    7. 10/14 - 6 minutes on my own
    8. 10/15 - 9 minutes
    9. 10/20 - 6 minutes
    10. 10/25 - part of Body Pump
    11. 10/26 -  part of Body Pump
  6. Quantity Run 12 times. (that is 2-3 times a week)  - Stretch goal is to run 15 times. 
    1. 10/2
    2. 10/4 
    3. 10/8
    4. 10/13
    5. 10/14
    6. 10/16
    7. 10/18
    8. 10/22
    9. 10/23
    10. 10/26
    11. 10/27
    12. 10/29
    13. 10/31
  7. Distance Run 87 total miles (18 mi, 20 mi, 22 mi, 25 mi, 2 mi - 2 mile because it is 4 weeks and then couple days) (My previous best in 1 month was 75 miles in March 2011) - stretch goal: I would love to have 100 miles (22, 24, 26, 28) just to have hit 100 in a month would feel like a great accomplishment 104.4 mi
    1. 11.5 miles (10/2) = 11.5
    2. 4.58 (10/4) + 16.17 (10/8) = 20.75
    3. 1.54 (10/13) + 1.55 (10/14) + 18.27 (10/16) = 21.36
    4. 3.52 (10/18) + 5.01 (10/22) + 14.04 (10/23) = 22.57
    5. 2.53 (10/26) + 4.55 (10/27) + 20.13 (10/29) = 27.21
    6. 1.01 (10/31)
Rest days (aka days I did nothing): 3, 5, 11, 17, 19, 20, 24, 28

10/31 should have been a rest day but I ran, did Body Pump, went for a 25 minute walk, and then did yoga.

I only made yoga at the very end. Also I didn't lift weights for sessions as long as I would have liked. 

October Workout Goals - Week 4

Here is my final full week in October.
  1. Perform yoga 2 times. (once every other week)
    1. 10/29 - 30 minutes of P90x (a little at the beginning then skipped to balance)
  2. Attend Body Pump 5 times. 
    1. 10/7
    2. 10/12
    3. 10/25
    4. 10/26
  3. Lift weights 2 times on my own.
    1. 10/10 (26 minutes - upper body)
    2. 10/13 Shoulders (only 10 minutes)
    3. 10/26 - many pushups with feet up on ottoman
  4. Complete 16 cardio workouts (running, classes at the gym, exercise bike, or elliptical)
    1. 10/2 run
    2. 10/4 run
    3. 10/6 Cardio fusion
    4. 10/8 run
    5. 10/9 exercise bike
    6. 10/13 run then elliptical
    7. 10/14 run
    8. 10/15 exercise bike
    9. 10/16 run
    10. 10/18 run
    11. 10/22 run
    12. 10/23 run
    13. 10/25 exercise bike
    14. 10/26 run
    15. 10/27 run
    16. 10/29 run
    17. 10/1 AHA walk (shouldn't count but I'll document it here and hope for 17 total at the end)
    18. 10/7 - 5 hours of manual labor (hopefully won't have to count this)
    19. 10/9 yardwork + mowing (1 hour. very tiring) (hopefully won't have to count this either)
    20. 10/28 walk
    21. 10/29 walk
    22. 10/30 walk
  5. Do 10 ab workouts (chiseled core, P90x core ab ripperx, Body Pump, or on my own)
    1. 10/2 - 5 minutes of abs on my own
    2. 10/6 - 15 minutes of abs as part of cardio fusion
    3. 10/7 - During Body Pump Class
    4. 10/9 - 6 minutes on my own
    5. 10/10 - 5 minutes on my own
    6. 10/12 - part of Body Pump
    7. 10/14 - 6 minutes on my own
    8. 10/15 - 9 minutes
    9. 10/20 - 6 minutes
    10. 10/25 - part of Body Pump
    11. 10/26 -  part of Body Pump
  6. Quantity Run 12 times. (that is 2-3 times a week)  - Stretch goal is to run 15 times. 
    1. 10/2
    2. 10/4 
    3. 10/8
    4. 10/13
    5. 10/14
    6. 10/16
    7. 10/18
    8. 10/22
    9. 10/23
    10. 10/26
    11. 10/27
    12. 10/29
  7. Distance Run 87 total miles (18 mi, 20 mi, 22 mi, 25 mi, 2 mi - 2 mile because it is 4 weeks and then couple days) (My previous best in 1 month was 75 miles in March 2011) - stretch goal: I would love to have 100 miles (22, 24, 26, 28) just to have hit 100 in a month would feel like a great accomplishment 103.39 mi
    1. 11.5 miles (10/2) = 11.5
    2. 4.58 (10/4) + 16.17 (10/8) = 20.75
    3. 1.54 (10/13) + 1.55 (10/14) + 18.27 (10/16) = 21.36
    4. 3.52 (10/18) + 5.01 (10/22) + 14.04 (10/23) = 22.57
    5. 2.53 (10/26) + 4.55 (10/27) + 20.13 (10/29) = 27.21
Rest days (aka days I did nothing): 3, 5, 11, 17, 19, 20, 24, 28

Sunday, October 30, 2011

10.28

I've been really slacking at my pink but I actually wore it here.
Scarf (pashmina): Sears
Sweater and Jeans: Express
Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline 11
I cleaned, worked a little (on my 9/80 day off), went to Giant Eagle, went to Target, went for a walk with dave, then went to volunteer with the RMHC.   I didn't think I had a lot planned but I went right from doing one thing to doing another. I even had some fun stuff I wanted to do but I didn't get to it.

While I was working for work, I was in bed and Poly was on my legs. She just sat there looking around for awhile but then she went to sleep.

In the middle of the night she found the Target bag that had my new headbands and she pulled all of them out. She brought some of them to us as we were waking up.

After I got home, we watched some TV. Then we watched baseball. I fell asleep during that.
For Ronald McDonald House Charity we cooked and served dinner for their Halloween Party.  The meal we prepared was spaghetti but we were creative with it.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

10:43:51 AM - My @BodyMediaFIT data for yesterday. http://t.co/Y2xhcef6

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

10.27

I got to work extra early again so I had to take outfit photos before daylight inside again.
Pants and Sweater: Express
Necklace: Limited
Shoes: Famous Footwear
Earrings: Target

Do my pants look too short and too big to you? They felt both of those things all day.

I wore my hair up and you can't tell anything about it in these photos. I'll have to try harder next time.
I went to work early. I went to run after work.  After the run I was close to KFC so Dave asked me to go pick up dinner from there.  He always wants KFC. I don't really care about it either way.  Well that KFC trip took over an hour. I was so mad waiting in line.  It should have been 16 minutes extra.  I was also in my running gear and my coat was far too hot. I was sweating more after the run than I was during the run.

We watched TV and ate dinner.

Around 10 Dave was already in bed and I was about to go to bed but realized I was in the mood to clean a little. I figured I better capitalize on that because I get in the mood to clean about twice a year.  I cleaned up the main floor. I spent over an hour doing a bunch of stuff.  I thought it all looked nicer.  I only didn't get to organizing the mail that was on the kitchen island.   Then I went to sleep after that.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

A Day's Worth of Twitter

10:12:07 AM - The first 10 miles sucked. The next 10 will be worse. This weather sucks.
12:19:07 PM - @RestonStyle good luck on your marathon tomorrow.
01:13:53 PM - I ran all 20 miles. It snowed the entire time. At the end it also felt like rain http://t.co/xqG74MA7
02:05:42 PM - I can't wait until after midnight because I'll have 2 new personal bests for today with @BodyMediaFIT
02:14:51 PM - @BodyMediaFIT new max for vigorous exercise and steps because of 20 mile run. I'll post the final #s at the end of the day after all stats

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

20 miles! (10/29/11) - Snowy, miserable

I woke up to go to North Park at 8am to start my run with the running group.  I get there and the parking lot is full. I don't see the people I'm trying to meet. Then I see one guy. I put down the window to talk to him. He hadn't seen the ladies I normally run with but gave me a pointer on where to try to park.  When I parked, I saw the one group leaving so I thought I missed them.   I already wanted to quit. I knew 4 times around North Park would be awful alone. 

I started doing math early on. I remember starting to figure out what percent complete I was at .5 miles into the run. I thought for sure I'd quit at mile 5.  The weather was just so miserable. The snow was annoying coming down on my eyes.  My breathing was tough.  It was also hard to get proper footing. I think my stride was half what it normally is.   At 7.5% complete I just wanted to tweet how there was no way I was going to finish the run.

2 miles into it, I couldn't cut through the boathouse because they had it blocked off. They were setting up for some race.  I couldn't believe I had to run the big hill so early on.

I took my first walk break at 3.25 miles into it. I sent a few texts at that time to try to get some motivating.  All the texting caused me to end up walking for over a minute.

I completed loop 1 and my Garmin only said 4.87. I was shocked at this. It should have at least be 4.95 based on past experience. Later I learned the watch didn't start at the spot that I started on so I ran probably .1 more and don't have the data.  I just figured that was bonus distance.

Then I stopped at my car to get my water belt so I wouldn't get dehydrated. I started back up again and then I forgot to start my timer back up.  I'm the worst at stopping and starting my timer I guess.  I lost a little bit of distance there. I think between .08 and .1.

The second loop through I thought for sure would be my last.  Cutting through the boat house this time (middle of 7th mile) I ran into the people I was trying to run with at 8am. We ran together for almost 3 miles until they were done. I went much faster with them.  We were doing 2:24 splits most of the time.  I was doing 2:36 or worse on my own.   It was a struggle to keep up with them. They were giving me some marathon pointers too.   Then they were done.  I decided I would add my 2nd coat because I was feeling chilled and also feeling soaked.  It took about a minute to add the coat because I had to take off my outer coat to put the new coat under it.  I was sad I left my waterproof coat at home. I wasn't sure if the pink coat I had was waterproof and it is not. I think I need a light weight water proof jacket because the one I have was really warm when I ran with it the last time.

In between mile 11 and 12, the 10k race met up with the loop I was running.  I ran with them for 2 miles or so.  It was a little awkward since I wasn't part of the race but people cheered me on like I was.  I was going the same pace as the runners I was near but they were on mile 3 and I was on mile 12.  Some were in costume. My favorite were Mario and Luigi. The best part was when one of the people cheering told them to hurry because Peach needed their help.   After the boathouse I continued on my path and they turned right to head toward the ice skating rink.  The one continuous mile I ran with the runners was faster than the ones around it.

Then I was done with the third loop and I ran past my car looking longingly at it.  I could easily stop. If I stopped I wouldn't get 20 in this weekend and I wouldn't get to blog about it, so I figured I suffered through 15 miles that I didn't want to do so what is 5 more.

Right around mile 16 I saw cars lined up at the light and then at the stop sign leading up to that road.  I wanted to walk. I didn't want to walk with all those cars seeing me. Especially since all the cars were in some way related to the race.  I decided I'd wait until after the cars for my walk break and I'd keep going.   Well .25 mile down the chain of chairs I hear someone shout "Colleen" and it was Adrienne.  I stopped my timer to talk to her for less than a minute.  She got a trophy for winning (I think) and told me I was doing so well with my training.  Her son was in the car and she introduced me to him but my mind was in a blur with everything that I can't remember his name.  2 ft from the car I realized I already forgot his name.

Finally I was getting close to 18 miles. That was my old maximum and I didn't feel as crappy as I did the last time I ran 18 miles. Granted I was slow and awful feeling the entire time but I didn't hit a wall.  I just wanted to keep going.

When I hit 19 miles I decided I would try to go for my last mile being under 10 minutes. I thought that would be impossible because I hadn't done that yet except for when I ran with the 2 other ladies.
Well I did it.  It was my fastest mile of the thing. I even had to run past the car and double back due to Garmin mistakes.  I even had to run past the car again even though I thought I paid attention to how far past the car I was and subtracted and doubled it and thought it would be at 20 miles.  Turning around always causes me to lose time and I still beat 10 minutes.   Once I hit 20, I walked a little to catch my breath.

I did go further than 20 because of the walking at the end, the time I forgot to start my timer, and the Garmin mistake at the beginning.  Today I didn't get any bonus seconds. I didn't even play a game with myself with that, but I did get some bonus distance.

I thought it would take me 4 hours to complete it.  I can't remember why I thought that but then I thought I'd do 5 miles in an hour so I'd do 20 miles in 4 hours.  Then later I realized that was slow and if I was at my peak for long runs, I'd do 6 miles in an hour so then I would complete it at a best time ever of 3:20.   After 15 miles, I thought if I really pushed I could be done in 3:45.   I was pretty close to 3:45 but beat that.   If you extrapolate my time from today, I will finish a marathon in 4:48:14.  What are the chances the extrapolation will be pretty accurate?
My layers
After I got home, I took off all my outer layers and they were quite soaked. I left them sitting on the bathroom sink.
Then I went upstairs to load my numbers real quick.  I didn't even plan to analyze them. I was still soaked and needed to get out of the wet clothes and needed to shower.  Well Poly came right over to my lap so I was stuck there for a few seconds.  I decided to analyze my numbers a little bit because of that.  Why does Poly like me best when I'm super gross from a run?

Friday, October 28, 2011

4.55 mi (10/27)

Jen and I met at North Park after work to run. At least the rain had slowed.  When we started running it was about 40 degrees. It got colder as we ran. I think it was 35 degrees at the end.  It was raining a little bit. I ran about half the loop before my feet started feeling a little bit wet. There were a few parts of the trail that had leaves all over them and those were very slippery, but otherwise it wasn't too bad.

I wore my rain jacket and it is very warm. It was too warm for that type of run I think.  Now I know I'll only wear it for 30 degrees or colder. Or I won't wear a long sleeve shirt under it.

I really need to start documenting the temperatures and which jackets I wore since I have 3 new ones this year. I have 2 from last year (that aren't water proof) and I can't even remember how I layered up last year.

I was going to do 1 loop with Jen then run another since my midweek run should have been 10 miles. I decided not to do that.  I had many excuses as to why but the main reason was that I was lazy.

We actually ran until 4.5 and the time for that was 50:24 and then we walked back to the car so it was 4.55.

10.25

Shirt: Loft
Skirt: Black House White Market
Necklace: Black House White Market
Earrings: Target
Shoes: not sure but Mudd shoes

It is amazing how different a color can look in a picture than in real life. The shirt I wore here is the same color as the shirt on 10/19. Just look at them. They look crazy different.  I took both pictures when it was still dark outside. The lighting inside was different since I was in different rooms.

I woke up early and went to Body Pump.  I ate a protein bar after that.
I packed leftover spaghetti and had that for lunch, but then my 1:00 meeting provided lunch so I had a second lunch. It was subway. The only subs that were on the regular bread were some meat that I had no idea what it was. I took it anyway. I ate it. I still have no idea what meat it was.  Then I went to dinner with Dave and since I did that it was earlier than we normally eat dinner.  Not only did I eat my normal nachos and cheese but I ate more of them than normal and I ate an enchilada. I normally don't eat breakfast but I did with the protein bar and then I was hungrier all day long.

After work we watched some TV. I almost forgot to take my daily picture before changing my clothes. I am not liking this lack of daylight anymore.

I used the exercise bike in the evening but only for 20 minutes. I felt like a slacker for only going for 20 minutes but I did already have 1 workout in the morning so I shouldn't have felt like a slacker.  I did eat way more than normal so that's probably why I started to feel like a slacker.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

A Day's Worth of Twitter

06:30:10 PM - I've been in the KFC drive thru line for over 20 minutes
07:56:14 PM - Poly was in my chair but decided to share it with me. http://t.co/NU3718qz
10:50:38 PM - @the_littlebit husband is the one that wanted the chicken. It was 8 minutes out of my way but added an hour with slow service and traffic.
10:51:19 PM - I almost went to bed but got in the mood to clean so I figure I better clean since this mood only hits once or twice a year.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

10/26 - Food

Shirt and Skirt: The Limited
Cardigan: Target
Shoes: Famous Footwear
Belt: Target
Necklace: Lia Sophia
Earrings: Target (3 pairs for $4.99)
The hole
I got to work early. I woke up extra early but for some reason I took long.

I had an all day meeting. It overlapped some other meetings. Then at one point I had a 3rd meeting overlap.  It was rough going.

One of my meetings did provide me with a big pastry. I swear it was about as big as my head.  I couldn't finish it. Near the end of eating it I thought I would throw up. Man it was rough going.

I didn't eat my lunch until 3pm because of that.   Then I had more pastry!
I rushed home from work and ran and then went to Body Pump. 2.5 miles is better than 0!  I left work so early for me. I hate that I never have time for anything.  When changing to run I realized the side seam on my skirt had a 2 inch hole. This is only the 2nd time I wore this skirt.  I guess I have to sew now.

I thought I had 30 minutes to run but I only had 22. I couldn't subtract. I thought I'd have 5 minutes to jag around. I was wrong. I had to rush.  At least I still made it to Body Pump on-time but it was too close that I was stressing.

On my way home from Body Pump I realized that I gained 2.5% of my body weight recently and Dave lost 2.5% of his body weight.

I picked up pizza on the way home.  We watched The X Factor while eating and almost the rest of the evening. 2.5 hours is a very long time

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

A Day's Worth of Twitter

12:07:02 PM - This donut was too big. I just couldn't finish it. Also I feel like I might throw up. http://t.co/LaXNy8iS
05:49:03 PM - 40 minus 18 is not 32. Now I'll be late. Off to body pump. Just ran 2.54 miles in under 23 minutes.
08:51:50 PM - after I changed out of my skirt today I noticed a 3 inch hole. Well the sewing in 3 inches of the side seam came out. only 2nd wearing of it
08:58:53 PM - @the_turtle the lining isn't have a hole so at least I wasn't indecent

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

2.53 mi (10/26)

I zipped home after work to run and get to Body Pump. I thought I'd have more time than I did. I barely made it in time and only ran 2.53 miles. sigh.  At least I ran.

I did my loop counter clockwise instead of my normal way. I always think it is harder this way.  It ends with an uphill instead of ending with level.

I started out with a goal of 2:15 and my first quarter I missed it by 1 second. Then 2 seconds. Then I hit it. I was doing bad at getting bonus seconds. I had to keep adding up my deficit seconds. Then my 4th split I was too slow again... sad times.

The worst part was the hill on Butler Street Extension when I got 2:42! That took some difficult subtracting on my end to see how many deficit seconds I had.   I almost continued to run past my house at my faster pace to try to make up the seconds but I still had 18 to makeup so I just gave up.  Good thing too because it was later than I thought and I was going to be late for Body Pump.   Boy I wish I actually telecommuted like I used to.  I keep having to go in.

When I left work it was raining. When I got home it was raining. I put on one of my new jackets I got on July 4 to see if it helped against the rain. But then I ran and it didn't rain at all and the jacket was just hot.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

10.23

Jeans: Express
Shoes: Nickels via Famous Footwear
Sweater: Kohl's I think - in 2006
Necklace: Sears
Earrings: Target
I woke up and ran. I wanted to sleep in a little bit but if I did I would have missed the running group.

I ran. Then I analyzed data. I ate a small lunch. Then I showered. Then I analyzed data some more.  Then I mowed 3/4 the lawn. I didn't have time to mow the entire lawn.  I got dressed again and we headed out the door to watch the Steeler Game at Paulo's house.

After the game, I watched TV, used the computer, and went to sleep fairly early.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

08:34:01 AM - Poly was so cute sleeping with me this morning that I didn't want to get up. I did anyway. I went to Body Pump.
10:18:28 AM - I have nothing most days then on November 5, I have 3 things!
03:42:09 PM - I ate 2 lunches today and I'm hungrier than normal

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

Color Rotation Challenge

It's Color Rotation Challenge time again.  I did it in October of 2010 and March-April 2011. It all started because I noticed I would wear the same colors all the time or go a few days in a row wearing one color and then move onto the next color for a few days.




The Rules are simple but I also have an entire post about it last March.
The Rules: 
  1. Rotate colors in your closet (1, 2, or 3 times) 
  2. Don't repeat the specific articles of clothing.
Goals:
  1. Wear a wide variety of clothes in your closet 
  2. Wear a variety of colors in your closet.
    I will be using the same rotation that I did in March. I will also skip days that I stay in my pajamas all day or days that I stay in my workout clothes all day. If a holiday fits in or something I may swap a color.

    Things it helps with
    1. Ruts: It helps you stay out of ruts you can get in when getting dressed.
    2. Speed: Focusing on a particular color decreases the amount of time it takes to pick out your clothes for the day.
    3. Veterans: Having to rotate helps you break out some veteran items from your closet.
    4. Accountability and Accomplishment: If you say you will do a challenge, you follow through and feel accomplished at the end.
    5. Remixing: It helps you remix items better so that you don't wear your favorite cardigan on the day of the color or else it would be out of your rotation for the rest of the challenge. 






    Join me in Color Rotation Challenge.  Last time there were 7 of us that participated. I'm hoping for more this time.

     
    Please comment if you sign up because I'm not sure if the link up is working.

    10.22

    I started the day analyzing data and doing other stuff on my computer. Dave suggested going to this Lake near our house because the local produce store guy sent an email saying how he proposed to his wife there.  Dave never suggested anything so I hurried and got ready to go. 
    Well we get there and see some gate blocked off for construction. So we walk up with our tripod and camera only to see the lake is drained.  So much for our good pictures. 

    Because Dave was in a good mood he decided to try for pictures at another lake. I suggested North Park or Lake Arther. He said I always go to North Park so he picked Lake Arthur. The trees weren't as pretty as I hoped.
    It was right in the middle of the day with all the sun so it was hard to get decent pictures.  It was especially hard to get them without having a camera remote to work with.
    These are just a few examples of the pictures we took.  Out of about 30 none came out good. I will do some photo editing and see what happens. The ones above are just cropped. 
    Later that night I ran at North Park and all the leaves were still pretty colors and on the trees there so I was sad we didn't go there. Also Dave didn't shave. I told him we need more pictures.
    Here I am sporting my head lamp (and my 2 fraud shirts)
    Fraud shirt #1 is the outer green one. It is a Pittsburgh marathon shirt and I did not run it (but registerred and got injured so I couldn't)
    Fraud shirt #2 is from the gym at work for those running in the marathon.
    2 shirts from 1 event that I didn't do.

    Monday, October 24, 2011

    10.24

    Shirt: Express, Cardigan: Target, Pants: VS, Shoes: Famous Footwear, Necklace: Target, Earrings: Target
    I thought about waking up and getting to work at 7am. That didn't happen. I did get there at 7:40.

    I had to eat lunch so fast because of all my meetings. I ended up eating so fast I was out of breath. I talked to Jen about this later and she knows what I'm talking about.  Do any of you know about that?

    I had far too many meetings today.  I don't know how I am ever supposed to get any work done.  Today I had 5.5 hours of meetings.  Tomorrow I have 8 hours of meetings with 2 that overlap so really 10 hours but only over an 8 hour time frame.  Wednesday I have 7 hours. Thursday I have 6 hours. Oh boy how can I get any work down.

    I think I left 13 different voicemails today. That's awful but what is worse is having all those calls returned or just following up a 2nd time if they don't call me back.

    I got an allergy shot.   I had to wait in the waiting room for 50 minutes before getting it. I could drive to Monroeville in that time. I hate this doctors office.

    After work I drove to the dealer to buy a new gas cap. I put it on myself.  Yay now my gas cap seals.

    I got home and cooked spaghetti. It was pretty good. I always doctor up the sauce. I never pay attention to how much of anything I put in and sometimes it just turns out so good and sometimes it doesn't.

    Then we watched Person of Interest and Grey's Anatomy. Then I watched Private Practice.

    A Day's Worth of Twitter

    09:36:04 AM - My twitter app does not work for when I am mentioned. It doesn't show up. Another reason to go back to echofon
    03:50:11 PM - I'm at the doctors office waiting to get an allergy shot but I'm ready to fall asleep.
    03:57:21 PM - Well well well. I fell asleep in the waiting room. A few times. Even 3 times while typing this. Make it 4
    04:23:50 PM - @katy_rose1 I like the GpS on the iPhone

    You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

    October Workout Goals - Week 3

    Since I like my weeks to go from Monday to Sunday, I have a partial week with Saturday and Sunday, 2 full weeks,  and then this includes my third full week.  Here's my progress but in general I had a bad week with everything this week.
    1. Perform yoga 2 times. (once every other week)
      1. 0 times
    2. Attend Body Pump 5 times. 
      1. 10/7
      2. 10/12
    3. Lift weights 2 times on my own.
      1. 10/10 (26 minutes - upper body)
      2. 10/13 Shoulders (only 10 minutes)
    4. Complete 16 cardio workouts (running, classes at the gym, exercise bike, or elliptical)
      1. 10/2 run
      2. 10/4 run
      3. 10/6 Cardio fusion
      4. 10/8 run
      5. 10/9 exercise bike
      6. 10/13 run then elliptical
      7. 10/14 run
      8. 10/15 exercise bike
      9. 10/16 run
      10. 10/18 run
      11. 10/22 run
      12. 10/23 run
      13. 10/1 AHA walk (shouldn't count but I'll document it here and hope for 17 total at the end)
      14. 10/7 - 5 hours of manual labor (hopefully won't have to count this)
      15. 10/9 yardwork + mowing (1 hour. very tiring) (hopefully won't have to count this either)
    5. Do 10 ab workouts (chiseled core, P90x core ab ripperx, Body Pump, or on my own)
      1. 10/2 - 5 minutes of abs on my own
      2. 10/6 - 15 minutes of abs as part of cardio fusion
      3. 10/7 - During Body Pump Class
      4. 10/9 - 6 minutes on my own
      5. 10/10 - 5 minutes on my own
      6. 10/12 - part of Body Pump
      7. 10/14 - 6 minutes on my own
      8. 10/15 - 9 minutes
      9. 10/20 - 6 minues
    6. Quantity: Run 12 times. (that is 2-3 times a week)  - Stretch goal is to run 15 times. 
      1. 10/2
      2. 10/4 
      3. 10/8
      4. 10/13
      5. 10/14
      6. 10/16
      7. 10/18
      8. 10/22
      9. 10/23
    7. Distance: Run 87 total miles (18 mi, 20 mi, 22 mi, 25 mi, 2 mi - 2 mile because it is 4 weeks and then couple days) (My previous best in 1 month was 75 miles in March 2011) - stretch goal: I would love to have 100 miles (22, 24, 26, 28) just to have hit 100 in a month would feel like a great accomplishment
      1. 11.5 miles (10/2) = 11.5
      2. 4.58 (10/4) + 16.17 (10/8) = 20.75
      3. 1.54 (10/13) + 1.55 (10/14) + 18.27 (10/16) = 21.36
      4. 3.52 (10/18) + 5.01 (10/22) + 14.04 (10/23) = 22.57
    Rest days (aka days I did nothing): 3, 5, 11, 17, 19, 20

    10.21


    Sweater: Express
    Pants: VS
    Shoes: Nine West via Famous Footwear
    Necklace: Lia Sophia

    I drove an hour for work for the last time. Boy was it exhausting.  We finished the audit.

    Then I headed up to Cranberry for a happy hour with some people from the gym. I was going to go run at the gym after. But then I stayed at the happy hour for over 5 hours.

    I always learn interesting things at happy hour. I really wish I would have gotten my workout in though.

    Also on my way to Cranberry I missed the Cranberry exit and had to go 13 more miles to Beaver and turn around. That sucked.  I was a little early so I went to Target and Famous Footwear.  I was late for dinner with Dave so he went home.

    Sunday, October 23, 2011

    A Day's Worth of Twitter

    11:46:41 AM - Where are all my gloves? I have 5 left gloves and 0 right gloves. I wore Dave's right glove
    01:39:02 PM - Is it excessive to run using iMapMyRun and my Garmin? How about if I'm wanting to know how similar the results are?
    02:18:20 PM - It is hot outside
    08:28:11 PM - @mikecherepko you can stalk me
    09:52:13 PM - This is interesting http://t.co/xpjg4Xy5 Too bad he also hasn't been wearing a @BodyMediaFIT though.
    10:57:36 PM - http://t.co/NsSDa1WJ My 14 Mile Run today (@iamoddd @RestonStyle @TheNewChrissy)
    10:58:06 PM - I'm hungry. I ate all junk foods today and I want real food but it's a little late at night for that.
    10:58:23 PM - @mikecherepko work, restaurants, runs, gym ... so no.
    11:18:38 PM - @mikecherepko sometimes I make wrong turns and PB tracks me & sees :( at least you won't realize. If I got kidnapped during a run it'd help

    You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

    14 Miler This Weekend

    I ran this morning to get my 14 mile run in. I wanted to sleep in but knew if I did, I'd probably skip. Meeting a running group holds me accountable even though they don't know if I'll be there.  I was debating between the North Park Running group, a running group downtown that meets at Washington's Landing, and running on my own. I know I skip on my own so didn't want that. At the time that I went to bed I didn't where the group meetings at our around Washington's landing and the person I know wouldn't be there so I wouldn't recognize anyone and it is further away and scary to drive to. That left the North Park group that I ran with last weekend and knew at least one person to recognize. I met a bunch more but they are all a blur.

    I went with North Park.  We started with the 8 mile loop that we did last week. It is really only 7.87 miles. Then I ran around the standard loop. I was going to add on at one point and run out and back to get an extra mile but decided against that method.

    The one runner that I knew I'd recognize ran extra with me. She ran about 1.5 miles of the loop with me and then she turned around.

    My Garmin started warning me low battery with 40 minutes left! I was stressing out. I decided not to add on at the skate rink and just to run the loop then run past it and double back. I figured I could use imapmyrun for the additional or hope the battery lasted. If the battery died, I did consider just quitting.

    I ran the entire way, but with the running group we did stop for water as a group a few times. Also people used the portajohns at that point too. I would stop my timer and sometimes forget to start it back up. I extrapolated the data that I missed for the .83 that I missed, but I may have been low because at that point it was level and the lady I was with mentioned a few times we were going to fast and had to slow down.  When I get to the part I know, I guess I was going faster. 

    The hill at the beginning is hard. It kind of sucks starting with it because it makes me more tired the rest of the workout but if it was near the end, I would be too dead to make it up it. While I run up it and it takes forever then there are more hills I actually like it because I think about how I need to do more hill work and it will help me improve more.
    Around 13 miles in I was thinking how I could do an even 15 but then with the threats of my Garmin dying I did not.  I even almost stopped at 13.5 because I feared it would die.  It did actually last but it started warning me more often near the end.

    I did not wear my water belt. I had my energy chews and I didn't eat a single one.  I didn't have to do walk/run today.  When I was running my last loop I was hoping for 10 minute pace and each time I beat 2:30 for the split, I would be happy with my bonus seconds.  Sometimes I was slower than 2:30 so I had to use up my bonus seconds. I did not like doing that. 

    After I was home, I didn't need to ice my knee. I grabbed 2 cheese sticks (like string cheese but cheddar cheese. They aren't in string form so I don't know what to call them) and started analyzing my data. This picture is me after my run. I don't look too bad. It seemed like an easy run. I am feel better than I did with distance this past March. I felt better with speed for medium distances the previous April.  My weekends haven't been jam-packed with things to do but my weekends have been a bit busy and it will all only get worse. I need to keep this up throughout the holidays.

    Mileage Totals Recently

    I've made a few posts like this before. But check out my mileage recently. I'm increasing!
    I thought this week was a bad week for me but because I sucked it up and ran in the dark on Saturday, I got an extra 5 miles in.

    The week with 0 was a week I was on vacation.

    Last year in October I ran 1 mile TOTAL.

    What way would you like to see my runs/exercise documented?  I'm trying to think of better ways to show what I do.

    What is funny is I still don't consider myself a runner. When people say I'm a runner I just get a weird feeling about it all. I run but don't feel that makes me a runner. I have friends that I think are runners.  I look up the definition and I run but don't know what specified way I run.  I run as a hobby but don't consider it competitively. I think I had that definition in my head without realizing it.  If the definition was someone who runs but isn't good then I'd be a runner.

    run·ner/ˈrÉ™nÉ™r/
    Noun:
    1. A person who runs, esp. in a specified way: "a fast runner".
    2. A person who runs competitively as a sport or hobby: "a marathon runner".