I Was Almost on TV!!!

ABC News was on my running route!!!!  But could not care less about my presence.  :/

Josh and I went to vote after work.  I must say it was a genius plan.  Last election, I lived in Baltimore County and decided to vote first thing to get it out of the way.  2 hours later, I completed my civic duty.  This election--albeit in a different county--we decided to go *after* work and waited...maybe 5 minutes?  WIN.

Once we got home, we got suited up for a cold, nighttime run along the river.

Since I didn't get to wear my (bilingual!) "I voted!/¡Yo voté!" sticker to work like all the cool kids, I wore it on my run.

We did the couch-to-5K week 3, day 1 program.  It upped the running ante from a max of 90 seconds at a time to 3 minutes.  Whew-ee.  It really wasn't a problem.  :)

On the way back, I tried to look like an interested citizen with regard to the MD Question 7 party being held with all the news trucks.  I would have given them a GREAT interview. 

But no one cared.  It's really the local viewing area's loss.  :)

Ventured into the Real World

Today I took a sick day from work to starve myself until noon and swallow a camera.  (Check out this late breaking article from 2006 about it.)  Pill.  A camera pill. 

Science is very cool.  The entire time I wore the allegedly-discrete-but-in-reality-very-much-so-not-incognito computer purse pack thing,

I felt so very cool.  I mean, there was something inside of me, being externally powered, taking 14 color, digital photos per second (according to the website linked above) and allowing the doctor zoom in 75 times if necessary.  Very.  Cool. 

But then, when I turned the pack back in, all I could feel is that I have a piece of trash in my digestive tract just waiting to come out.  I know, I'm so deep.  :)  (I am also weirdly excited for it to pass--I mostly am curious the duration of time it is in my system.)

Anyways, I had to go on a clear liquid diet from after lunch Sunday til 12 today (with nothing allowed from midnight to 10am--not even water!!!).  I was surprised by how tired and weak I was this morning.  Not ridiculously so, but I definitely felt sluggish.  I was very happy to dig in at lunch time! 

I met Amy at Panera for lunch.  Yum.  I put all of my food into my myfitnesspal.com app beforehand to make sure I was staying in the limits.  This was somewhat simpler since I did not eat until noon.  :)  It.  Was.  Delicious. 

I even had enough room for a tall nonfat gingerbread latte no whip.  Not ideal, but I'll take it.

And on the 8th Day...Erin Rested

Ahhhhh, rest.  I was really enjoying my new workout pace.  I had missed the zone--it's good to be back.  But, like always, my body was all: "Hold up, woman.  We need a break!"  And then I thought about it; I've worked out for 8 days in a row.  Sure, today I will rest. 

Josh went rock climbing and I belayed him. I argue this is some sort of exercise as there is consistent arm moving motion.  However, I did not list it as exercise in myfitnesspal.com because I think it's not *really* exercise and I don't need the extra calories today.  (The website counts playing guitar while standing and cleaning as exercises.  Cleaning!  Clearly belaying would count too...in any event, it's more calories burned than the alternative of sitting on my couch for the hour.  Amirite?!?!)  So, no recorded workout today.

This turned out to be a good thing, because I have a test tomorrow that requires me to be on a clear liquid diet starting today after lunch.  So it would have been tough to replenish any calories lost with a good workout.  I may or may not workout tomorrow because of an evening appointment, but I will be on clear liquids until noon or so, so again I should be fine calorie-wise.  I am trying to get some short cardio in though, if I feel up to it.  (I worry I may not because I am beginning to get quite dependent on a steady diet for proper energy during a workout in my old age...)

So, today I headed to the grocery store and made sure to pick up some key, clear liquid diet items:

Apple Juice
Beef Bouillon
Pre-Made Sugar-Free Lemon/Lime Jello
Box of Island Pineapple Jello

It's a party.  Clearly.

I went shopping right before lunch and was getting pretty hungry toward the end of the trip.  I perused the dairy section for the pre-made Jello.  If I have to eat only clear liquids (which I am not thrilled about), I don't want to have to *make* Jello.  I want to buy it.  Made.  And none of that garbage that sits on the shelf.  I want refrigerated, Jello-brand, J-E-L-L-O Jello.  So, I was a tad cranky when I only found one pack of sugar-free pre-made Jello.  There were not even empty shelf sections with tags for the other.  This floored me.  And made me crankier.

I asked an employee and he didn't even know what I was talking about!  I'm sorry, did I enter the Twilight Zone?!?!  Who has not heard of these?  Supermarkets in New Hampshire and in Ellicott City, Maryland have entire refrigerated display case sections dedicated to this.  What happened, Northern Virginia Harris Teeter?!?!

My ever-so-patient husband sat with the cart while I paced all up and down the dairy section, then stomped back to the baking aisle.  He pointed out several flavors that sounded yummy (to add to my dismay, I can't have red colored Jello--my favorites!). 

I chose Island Pineapple.  And, when we got home, without a word Josh made it for me.  /swoon

And I devoured it for dinner.  All 320 calories of it.  Yum.

My Kind of Triathlon: Run, Hike, Eat

Today, Holly organized a fun hiking and picnicking day today with us and some dear friends.  Since Saturdays are also our Day 3 for the couch-to-5K program, we decided to wake up early to run.  And by "we", I mean "Josh".  Let it be known that I hate early morning workouts.  In order to meet everyone on time, we set the alarm for 7:15 am.  (Before you give me grief about this, I wake up at 5:30 am every weekday--give me Saturday sleep-in or give me...um...a nap?)

When we got outside, my first non-grumpy thought was: At least's it light out.  Then, as we reached the river and began our run, I thought: This is pretty.  I really do love our running path.  :)

Week 2 completed.  Week 3 begins Tuesday.  :)

Next up (after breakfast), was the hiking!  We went to Patapsco State Park (I've been wanting to go since I moved here in 2003 and just never have) at the McKeldin Area (for those who do not know Maryland very well, PSP is GINORMOUS and has many different areas to visit).  Also, it costs $2 per vehicle to get in (if you live in state), so it's a fun day for very little cost.  We decided to head out toward the first trail we saw and then follow the river.  There are a lot of trails that meet down there, so we'd keep moving along the river until we decided to take a trail out. 

It was a wonderful hike!  Great weather--slightly chilly, but not too cold, great company and greats scenery.

Josh insisted on picking up walking sticks.  For the second half of the hike, he had two.  Naturally.

When we finished (after about 75 minutes and an unknown distance), we picnicked!

 Thanks for a great day, Holly! <3

The Weight is Over (See what I did there???)!

 I am very pleased with myself for the title, if I'm being honest.  So, I left you hanging on the edge of your expensive computer chairs last night with my post awaiting weigh-in results...2 pounds!  Exactly.  I'll take it.  With a smile.  :)

Looks like my current plan is working.  I'll stick with it.

Today we went to the climbing gym and didn't climb.  :)  We utilized the small, yet better than our apartment gym, free weight area.  Several draws to making the drive were: a smith machine, a bench press, many olympic bars and weight plates, and a larger selection of dumbbells.  If they had a squat rack, Josh would be completely satisfied.  Coming from Globogym, I would not. But, hey--it's taking care of my current fitness needs, so I'm happy.

Full-Body Lifting Routine:

Smith Machine Squats: 35/15, 55/15, 65/12

DB Dead Lifts: 20/12, 20/12, 20/12

BB Bench Press: 45/15, 65/12, 85/8

Back Superset:
   Lat Pulldowns: 50/12, 50/12, 50/12
   Bent Over DB Rows: 20/12, 20/12, 20/12

Standing DB Shoulder Press: 10/15, 12.5/15, 15/15

On an unrelated, but very exciting note, my number of myfitnesspal.com friends DOUBLED overnight!!!  Yup, it is no longer just my husband and Holly.  Popularity is so good for my self-esteem.  :)

Sucralose?! More like Sucra-GROSS!

For my mid-morning snack I enjoy some yogurt and fruit.  It is wonderful.  I buy the 12 pack of small yogurts and eat two every day.  It's great.  Sometimes I get the Strawberry/Blueberry pack and sometimes I get the Strawberry/Peach one.  All the time, it's delicious.

This week, we did our shopping in 3 separate trips.  Friday night, we bought minimal non-perishables in case we lost power for several days.  We don't really keep things like that in the house, so we thought it would be a good idea to get some.  Sunday, we bought dinner foods for Sunday and Monday night (in the event we lost power on Monday due to the storm we didn't want to lose too much food).  Then on Tuesday night, we bought food for the remainder of the week.  We had survived the storm with no break in power, so we would have been fine, but I guess we couldn't have known. 

Anyways, I blame this nonstandard shopping trip for my critical error.  When I got to the yogurts, I saw Strawberry and Blueberry on the box and bought it.  And it was "Light". 

Just look at how easy it was to confuse them:

Who looks for a light blue swooshy area?  No one.  Ok, whatever, I can do light.  I'm flexible.  So yesterday was the first day I packed it in my lunch box.  (Ok, it's a lunch bag, but that sounds weird to me.)

I started with the blueberry.  It was bad.  I mean, B-A-D-BAD.  But I ate it.  Mostly to keep my diet consistent so my body would get roughly what it expects (I am training it, you see).  Then I got to the strawberry.  It is one of the worst things I have ever put in my mouth.  After bite 2 or 3 I actually felt my stomach convulse in a slight gagging motion.  I am not one prone to such things.  Since I am stubborn about calories, I finished it.  It was rough.  Today, I ate 2 blueberries.  Not as bad, but not good either.  I will be throwing out the rest and purchasing the regular kind tonight.

After I finished them yesterday, I studied the package to see what the deal was.  I noticed they contained sucralose.  Interestingly enough, I had *just* read Lyn's blog about how she accidentally bought fruit in sucralose and hated it as well.  Lyn wrote that sucralose is what Splenda is.  I have always disliked Splenda as well.  I just find it too sweet.  I wish I could use it in my coffee, but I just can't. 

I am not sure what the sucralose craze is all about.  I wonder if it's like cilantro--some people love it, others think it tastes like soap (I'm in the soap camp)--maybe it actually tastes good to some.  Not to me and Lyn.  :)  I, for one, am a huge fan of aspartame.  I love me a Diet Coke.  When I was in college, I worked in a supermarket and some woman talked to me for like 30 minutes about how Diet Coke gave her Lupus and that's why she was buying (literally) hundreds of dollars of natural, anti-biotic free, grass-fed meats.  I feel for her, but don't see her anecdotal evidence as a valid reason to quit it.  :)  But I digress. 

I've never minded sugar-free, artifically sweetened stuff before sucralose came around.  I also don't mind real sugar.  Like most things, it's fine in moderation.  But this sucralose stuff?  No thank you.

Outdoor Run & ... ... Suspense!

Today is a pretty boring blog day.  I did the Week 2, Day 2 program of the couch-to-5k plan.  The good news is that this is the first run that the outsides of my calves did not hurt after the first few minutes.  My right one was a little sore at the end, but like a dull sore vs the sharper pain I was experiencing.  I am glad because I expected something like this to happen in the beginning and then go away as I get back into it.  If that didn't happen I would have been concerned that I was hurting myself!  Phew.  :)

Ok, now the suspense part!  Tomorrow will be one week from when I started using myfitnesspal.com.  As such, Friday has become my weigh-in day.  Tomorrow everyone will know how the first week went!  Tomorrow...oh, the suspense!

Since I have nothing good in this post, here's a baby red panda.  /swoon