Slow and Steady

I am super proud of myself.  I know I say things like this all thing time, but I am.  A lot.  Maybe I consistently underestimate myself.  Maybe I'm just good at recognizing achievement.  I prefer to view it as the latter.  :)

Anyways, I am building my running base back up.  I totally dropped it.  Bad.  Like, I am on out-of-shape running fool.  So, as you faithful readers know, I started the couch-to-5k program with my husband.  He has knee and hip issues that are currently being diagnosed, so he's been ellipticalling while I run on the treadmill.  Today I did Week 7 Day 1: run 25 minutes.

I am so proud of myself, let me count the ways:

1) I even started again.  I hate running when I am not good at it.
2) I continued even when my husband couldn't.  I totally am the type to be like, "Ohhh, honey...  You can't run.  I won't either.  Solidarity."  But I didn't!
3) I made it to Week 7.  After a long month and a half of Week 6 (oops) I made it!  I have arrived.

The end.  :)

Week 6 Completed!!!!...Finally.

I think I have been repeating Week 6 Days 1 & 2  of the couch-to-5k program since mid-December.  I am pretty sure it shouldn't take that long.  :)  The worst part is that it isn't even that big of a jump--the week before you run 20 minutes nonstop, this week it's 22.  But I could never bring myself to do it. 

I think there were a bunch of reasons.  First, I was away from home off and on.  I am a creature of routine and I do not handle breaks to my routine very well.  Second, I found myself only doing cardio 2 days a week, which meant I never got to Day 3 and so would start on Day 1 again the next week. 

Regardless, this week I overcame and did 3 days of cardio and completed Week 6 of the program from start to finish!  I plan to start Week 7 next week!!!!!!!  So excited!

Climbing. Sigh.

I fail at climbing.  Which I would be perfectly okay with.  But it is not skill or strength or fitness level.  Sigh.
 
I don't climb to be the best climber in the whole wide world.  Or the gym.  Or even among a group of kids at a birthday party.  I climb because it's a fun way to workout, my husband loves it and it is a healthy way for us to spend time together.

I have no problems coming down off of a wall before I've reached the top.  Again, it's not about being the best, it's about having fun.  And if I am no longer having fun.  I stop. 

I will say that when I do push through my urges to come down in the middle of a route and finish, it feels really good.  I am really proud of myself and we celebrate.

When I come down off of the wall (from the top or not), Josh and I usually talk through how I did highlighting the good and pointing out the not-so-good.  I really enjoy these post-climb debriefs.  Despite my carefree attitude, I truly do want to become a better climber--I'm striving for average here.

So, what's holding me back?  Confidence.  I have a mental game that is kicking my butt.  I freak out mid-way up the wall which causes me to tense up...which causes me to tire out quickly...which causes me to not trust my body to hold onto the wall...which cause me to not be having fun...which causes me to come down.  I am sure it drives my husband absolutely batty.  :)

Anyways, today I got halfway up an easy wall that I had climbed before and with no explanation became super anxious.  I cannot explain it at all.  I tried to overcome it, but I was physically shaking.  I am not even afraid of falling.  I am in a harness tied into a rope.  But I was done.  I found that to be super frustrating because there was no reason.  In the past maybe a my foot would have slipped or something to make me nervous.  Nope.  I just freaked. 

I did redeem myself (to myself) by climbing a route and not giving up, making it to the top.

Ahhhhh climbing.  Sigh.

Sneaky Treadmill

I'm in a pretty good health and fitness zone.  By this I mean that I am sticking to my daily caloric intakes and I am feeling good when I exercise.

Today I ran on the treadmill.  Per Saturday's post, I am once again doing Week 6 of the Couch-to-5K program.  Today was Day 2: run 10, walk 5, run 10. 

I felt great the whole time!  I love when that happens.  (More on this later).  Also, I ran the fastest speed I've run since starting the program for a little bit tonight.  You see, I'm a jogger.  I am finish-this-without-feeling-like-I-need-an-oxygen-tank kinda girl.  I typically don't run fast(er) unless I am in a race passing people (Passing Other Runners: one of my favorite running-related activities) or I am just in good enough shape I don't realize I am doing it.  At my best (Spring 2010) I was routinely running long distances between 10:30 and 12:30s and I ran a half marathon sub-10s.  Yeah, I cannot currently do that.  My pace for this couch-to-5K (on a treadmill, not outside) is 4.7 mph (12:45s), with the occasional *push* to 4.8 (12:30s). 

Today, I ran on a treadmill in our condo gym.  Now I am not sure the brand, but it has a feature I do not like.  (It also has features I do like, namely a fan.)  It does that crazy thing where it changes the speed you program one or two decimals.  For example, if I put in 4.7 mph, I may look down and see I am going 4.5 mph, or 4.8 mph.  I am trying to figure out what the heck it is doing.  I wonder if there is a way it sensors if I am pushing more or less and it adjusts, but I just don't think it's that complicated.  It drives me crazy.  It's "banans"!

So today, during my second 10 minute run, I looked down and saw it was at 4.5.  WHAT?!?!  So, I bumped it up, but it went to 4.8.  So I left it there.  And it went back down to 4.5.  WHAT?!?!  So, I put it to 5.0 thinking it would accommodate me down to 4.7.  And it did not.  So, I ended up running the last 5 minutes at 5 mph (12s).  And it was easy.  Which means, as we all know, that I am not pushing hard enough.  OR...that I am having a great day.  (More on this later.)  I was so jazzed, I bumped up the final minute:  30 seconds on 5.5, 30 seconds on 6.  I am a beast.  Well played, sneaky treadmill.  Well played.

Is it later yet?  YES.  So, I regularly have the same health & fitness epiphany and them promptly forget it.  It revisited me today.  It typically goes something like this.

Man!  My workout was great today.  I felt so great the entire time.  I feel like a [week|month|year] ago I would have been a mess during that, but today...today was GREAT!  I wonder why.  <pause>  Oh yeah, I've eaten healthily and made smart choices for the not too distant past.  When I eat healthy, I feel healthy.  Genius!!!

Ready to forget it again...  :P

A Page from My Mission Statement Diary

Recently, I was reading up on financial advice and they suggest creating a mission statement for your finances.  My husband and I have never formally done this--and the exercise may be worthwhile--but we discuss it a lot and I feel we have a non-formal version of it.

Since I read that article, I have been thinking that I should really create a health and fitness mission statement for myself.  I googled "Fitness Mission Statement" and got a lot of Gym mission statements.  Not *quite* the goal of the google.  But then, hidden among the results was this gem from FitBlogger.

Tangent: I had never been to FitBlogger before, but my good friend, Lyn, goes to the FitBloggin' Conference every year and I have been meaning to check it out.  I really should do that soon since this page is great!  I don't even know if the two are the same thing, but in my head they are...

So, I've decided to write a Health & Fitness Mission Statement for Erin in 2013.  And I will talk it out right here.  This particular glimpse into my crazy mind is free.  This time.

There are 10 Steps.

1. What are you passionate about? If you lose track of time doing something, what are you usually doing?
   
   I hate this question (starting off great, I know).  I have a hard time picking things.  I default to 'watching TV' and then immediately feel lazy and too shamed to put that down as an answer.  So I will think for a moment.  (Go grab a snack, I'll be here).  OK.  I've got it:
   
   Creating things.  I lose time the most making something.  Usually a scrapbook, handwritten/handmade card, the framework for an organizational scheme (think taking a blank Excel document and making Excel magic out of it!), handmade wedding or baby shower favors, plans and lists for a vacation.  I could keep listing things, but this is the gist. 
   
   It's not limited to crafts.  It's creation.  I once spent something ridiculous like 10 consecutive hours one Saturday creating a lifting database based on my personal trainer's routines.
   
2. On days you can’t wait to get out of bed, what is usually going on in your life?
   Something I have prepared for far in advance and am proud of the work I have put into it.
   
3. What do you want people to say about you after you die?
   
   That I loved.
   
4. List your values. Then consider them 2 at a time, then keep the most important one and cross the other one out. Use this method to narrow down your core values to 5 most important ones.  You can test them by thinking about how you feel if other people violate these values.  If they are truly the most important ones, the idea of that should be very upsetting.
   
   This is hard.  Googling has led me to this.  I will select 1014 from there.  And modify/add if I want to.  Then I will narrow it to 5.
   
   Achievement
   Adventure
   Close Relationships
   Creativity
   Decisiveness
   Economic Security
   Efficiency
   Excellence
   Helping Other People
   Honesty
   Independence Self-Respect
   Stability
   
   I didn't use their method because it was fundamentally flawed.  Unless you are choosing one, you are always left with a good value...and the final 4 on the list.  FAIL.  (If you don't see it, go ahead and think through it again.  I'll wait...)  Instead, I talked it through with my husband.  His defense of certain values being higher or lower was eye-opening.  :)
   
5. What amount of your day/week reflects your key governing values.  Such as is one value is family, how much time do you spend with/on family time, etc.
   
   I don't know how to answer this.  I'll break it out by value.
   
   Close Relationships: I spend a lot of time nurturing the relationship with my husband.  With my close friends, I try very hard to be intentional about making time for them. 
   
   Efficiency: I probably am considering the efficiency of my actions during the majority of my waking hours.
   
   Helping Other People: Sigh.  Not enough.  When I have an opportunity, I try to do it.
   
   Honesty:  When I was 22 and moved away from home to be a grown-up, I made a conscious decision to be truthful.  I am not perfect, but think I do a decent job.  So I spend a lot of time with this one too.
   
   Self-Respect:  Again, it is interwoven into my decisions throughout the day.
   
6. Return to your answers from the previous questions and highlight what stands out as your true passions, what you get excited about and your core personal values.
   
   The Act of Creation
   Realizing the Fruits of my Labor
   Maintaining and Growing Relationships
   Being Proud of Who I Am
   
7. Some additional questions to help focus.
   
   Who has been/is most influential in your life?
   I can't make a list.  I am constantly looking to better myself and in that I am influenced by someone any time they live their life in a way I would like to.
   
   What qualities of theirs do you admire?
   
   Usually it involves integrity, compassion, creativity, determination.  Anything that would make a better me.
   
   What have you gained from knowing them?
   
   So much.  How to be a better friend and member of society.  How to be proud of who I am because of the choices I make. 
   
   What would you like to be?
   
   Someone that people leave feeling better than when the arrived.
   
   What would you like to do?
   
   Anything that brings me happiness.
   
8. Again highlight anything from those questions that stand out from the list.
   
   Personal Growth
   Happiness
   
9. You should now have a nice scribbly piece(s) of paper that have you most important values on it.
   
   Gasp!  I do not!  But I do have a blog post...  :)
   
10. Using that list, draft of your mission statement.
    
    Um...Uh...  This is hard.  I'll use the example one as a template.  :)  Here goes:

Striving daily to expand my abilities at being a healthier person through being intentional about health and fitness and realizing the fruits of my preparations.  To inspire others through leadership and example to achieve their greatest possible health in an environment of integrity and respect.

2013 in Review: Recipe Edition

First blog post of 2013!!!!  Since I have not posted ALL week, here is my YEAR IN REVIEW*:

Tuesday, January 1st:  We hosted a large brunch.  I cooked a lot of food.  The good thing about being the hostess is that I stressed so much, I didn't eat all that much.  But I did have some pretty high calorie brunch foods--most notably, Nutella-Stuffed Custard French Toast--and if you combine that with my bottomless mimosa cup, I like hit or exceeded my daily calorie limit.  This was counteracted by me being on my feet cooking and hosting for the better part of 7 hours.  :)  Other crowd favorites were the Apple Jalapeño Meatballs and Buffalo Chicken Dip we made in our crockpots.

Wednesday, January 2nd: Over my daily calorie limit by 117 calories.  Where under is the goal, if I am going to go over, this is a nice and small number.  Even though I wasn't "successful", I consider this a success.  I walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes as well. 

Thursday, January 3rd: Over my daily calorie limit by 157 calories.  Yes, the Taco Bell for dinner was totally worth it.**

Friday, January 4th: Over my daily calorie limit by 336 calories.  I am sensing a pattern.  :/  Where this is not good, but calorie limit has a 500 calories deficit to account for a goal of one pound lost per week.  If I am 500 calories over, I should be maintaining my current weight.  So, even though this is not ideal, it is still supposed to shed something.***  202 calories came from testing out a new recipe from Drink Your Carbs for brownies that Josh had wanted me to try.  Apparently the DYC website is a place to get recipes on how to save all of your carb intake for beer.  Not a goal I will ever have, but I do like the idea of low carb versions of foods I love.  Interestingly enough, these gluten- and dairy-free brownies are *not* low carb.  But in the words of the website:

Fact: Not all cheats are created equal. These brownies are a far better choice than a Twinkie, and not just because you now have to buy those for $200 each off eBay. If you are going to treat yourself, these are the highest protein, lowest sugar dessert we’ve come across. And more importantly, they don’t taste like it. 

I also weigh-ed in (since I do that on Fridays) and I was down 0.8 pounds.  I am back to where I was before Christmas (when I gained that pesky 0.8 lbs).  Guess I undid the New Year's Eve and New Year's Day damage.

Saturday, January 5th: UNDER MY DAILY CALORIE LIMIT.  By 107 calories.  And it feels good.  Today was one of those great days where you eat tasty food, don't go hungry and still meet the calorie goal.  I ran on the treadmill today and that gave me some extra calories to work with.  I also had  a DYC brownie AND a (nonfat) caramel latte from Wegmans.  All wins.  For the running I did Week 6 Day 1 of the Couch-to-5K program.  Week 6 is my Groundhog Day.  I keep doing Days 1 & 2, then not running for a few days or a week, then doing them again.  I will do Day 3 soon.  And then, who knows?  Maybe Week 7.  Maybe...

*So far.  Current up to Saturday, January 5th, 2013.
**Little known fact: Taco Bell is one of my guilty pleasures.
***I am quite the optimist today.