Month 2…Still behind.

Today marks the end of month #2 of my 750/2010 goal.  I definitely kicked the running up a notch this month since for the majority of the month I was feeling pretty good.  I did have a nasty cold for a solid 10 days, but that didn’t stop me, just slowed me down and made me cut a few runs short.  It’s not exactly pleasurable running with a dripping faucet in 25-30 degree weather.

The good news?  I had four (!) runs over four miles.  The bad news?  Nike+ tells me I’m 40.86 miles behind my goal of 750 miles.  Have I mentioned lately how much I love that thing but hate it at the same time?  The other day it came on and told me I had my longest run yet (4.58 miles), but yet today I had to watch as the yellow bar crept that much further ahead of the orange “current” bar.  Ugh.

My longest run was this past Thursday.  I wasn’t in the mood to run, but I made myself get out in the nasty wind and get going.  I was a mile in and I felt fantastic.  I quickly decided to change my route and make it a 4 mile run, but at 3 miles in I changed it again and tried to make it over a 4.5 mile run.  Goal accomplished.  The difference between this run and the previous 4 miler was that I dropped 35 seconds per mile.  Unbelievable.  I averaged a 9:53 mile, which is fantastic for me.  Most of my 3 mile runs are about 9:45 (with the exception of the last couple which had been 10+ min/mi…yipes!), so a 9:53 mile put a huge smile on my face.  Even today’s 4.11 mile run was a 9:57 average, which is exciting.  The best thing is the 4 mile runs haven’t seemed like work, they’ve been relaxing and enjoyable.

I’m doubting I can catch up even 20 miles next month, but realistically I’m hoping for 10.  February meant 43.97 miles of running, if I can get up over 55 miles I should be doing pretty well.  I know that once it starts to get warm my 4+ mile days will be done, running in 80 degree weather is just downright miserable.  But for now, I’m hoping to get up to the 5-6 mile range a couple days a week, enjoying it along the way.

The Morning After

Last night we got a somewhat unexpected snowfall.  C and I also celebrated Valentine’s Day since we didn’t know what the weekend held with my work schedule… and it’s a good thing we did since he’s been sick in bed all day and I’m still not feeling 100% after my week-long cold.  We enjoyed the snowfall, a movie, a great bottle of wine and our Giordano’s pizza that we brought back from Chicago in November.  It was a perfect night in!

This morning was absolutely gorgeous.  We ended up getting about 4″ and it made me think of growing up in Wisconsin.  I do have to say I definitely enjoy the Southern weather and not having to shovel the snow for several months out of the year.

After I stood at the window smiling for awhile, I looked at the clock and realized that even though I had slept in (work was delayed an hour), I still had time for a run.  So I took the dog for a run with me for a change:

He was a good little running partner.  I used to take him with me all the time, until I started focusing on speed and distance.  It’s good for him though, I need to take him more.

SNOW!

#60: Completely fund 3 month e-fund

We did it!  As of today, our emergency fund is fully funded.  Three months worth of expenses, DONE!

It took awhile.  Scratch that.  It took a LONG time.  Priorities can be a little difficult at times, although C and I pride ourselves in being level-headed and budget conscious.  This is a pretty great feeling and frees up some cash to start to get us out of the red (on paper) on home improvement items and to also put a good chunk of change toward the S2000 to get that paid off quickly.

We’re hoping to set up a short term emergency fund with $1,000 to take care of unforseen budget overages (like that $130 power bill last month) that don’t fall into another savings line.  The three month fund can hopefully sit tucked away in a bank account (or CD when the market decides to stop sucking so much) and earn some pretty pennies in interest.  Ideally, we’ll never have to touch this e-fund, but we all know that we don’t live in an ideal world.  At least we know that if, say, unemployment runs out or one of us suddenly goes out on disability we can survive for three months without cutting anything.  Obviously though if we did find ourselves dipping into it, we’d be cutting like crazy to make that money last as long as possible.

Another accomplishment down, several more to go!  It’s these goals along the way though that make it more rewarding when we get to the end result.

NROL4W…Stage 1

Did you catch that?  NROL4W (aka New Rules of Lifting for Women) is my new quest to gain a bit of muscle, lose a couple inches and lose a couple pounds in the process.  I am just OK with my weight; I can’t decide if it’s my new “happy weight” or if it’s just my “I’m lazy” weight.  Not that I’ve been lazy lately, but I haven’t exactly been the goddess of good eating in the past several weeks.

The workouts are simple; it’s three days a week and my first workout took about twenty minutes, although I’ve been told to expect significantly longer workouts toward the end.  It’s a (roughly) six month program divided into seven stages.  Along with the strength workouts come suggestions for cardio workouts, including HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training for those who aren’t familiar with that acronym).  This book has some really good, solid recommendations on cardio workouts and really spells it all out for you when it comes to interval training.  I have found it slightly confusing to follow the workout plan, but I do think I have a handle on it now.  Although it’s a bit dated, this blog by Maggie Wang has a really good spreadsheet that does all of the caloric intake work for you, as well as providing a place to input your weights per workout.

To top it all off, the book has eating suggestions and takes multiple cracks at the fad diets that are out there.  Finally, a real person’s “diet” that fully sustains the body’s caloric needs.  Lou Schuler gets into what your resting metabolic rate is (RMR) and how it relates to what your body needs each day to function.  Schuler breaks it down so that people can really start to understand why those 1200 calories/day just aren’t cutting it.  Sure, you’re losing weight, but not the right kind of weight.  You’re sending yourself into starvation mode.  He is pretty set on a higher protein diet, making sure you have recovery shakes after a strength workout, but I’m probably going to vary from this a bit and just make sure I have a higher protein snack after my workouts.  I’ll probably venture back into the land of SparkPeople over the next couple weeks to see how my calorie intake is and what my carb, protein and fat ratios are.  Overall, Schuler recommends 40:30:30 in a roundabout way, which is doable.  It’ll take a bit of effort, but definitely manageable in a day to day meal plan.

I do confess that I didn’t read the whole book.  I skimmed most parts and read things that were of interest to me.  I just didn’t have the motivation to read it all, especially since there really wasn’t anything earth shattering when it came to new information in there.  For some people who aren’t very educated on macronutrients, lifting, interval training, and food/meal planning, it’d be a worthwhile read.

Overall, the first workout went well.  It was quick but it felt like a good, solid workout.  I did this workout after a poor excuse for a run (1.07 miles) due to the leftover ice on the roads, hopefully Wednesday will be better.  My new hot pink shoes are good motivation to get out there!  The only move in this workout that I had slight difficulty with was the Swiss Ball Prone Jackknife, but once I reinflated the ball and concentrated on getting my butt up in the air, life was good.  I’m sure I’ll be sore tomorrow!

I am doing measurements and pictures again, the pictures will remain tucked away on my hard drive unless requested, but here are the starting measurements.  For reference, I’ve included the last measurements of P90X Lean in the first column, today’s measurements are listed second.

Weight: 147.2/147.8
Waist: 30″/30″
Hips: 41″/41.5″
Left Leg: 25″/25″
Right Leg: 25″/25″
Chest: 37.25″/37.25″
Right Arm: 12″/12″
Left Arm: 12″/12″

Behind Already.

Well, January wasn’t such a great start to the 750/2010 goal.  I was basically out of commission for two weeks while I let the pulled muscle in my foot heal.  It was a pesky little pulled muscle, and I still can’t figure out how in the world I pulled it.  Imagine the arch in your foot and go straight over, right under that last metatarsal.  That’s the one I pulled.  Instead of running, I was able to start walking more at work and now my running shoes are a permanent fixture in my car, ready to go for those walks around the pool deck at 5am.  Ok, not 5am since I’m too busy talking to my co-worker, more like 7:30.  I do wear my pedometer and aim for 7500 steps in my four hour shift.  Not a bad start to the morning!

The total for January came in at 35.69 miles.  This leaves 714.31 miles to go.  According to Nike+, I’m behind my goal by 31.32 miles.  Thanks to that little tidbit of information, I now have a love-hate relationship with that little sensor.