Thank You

Thank You so much to everyone who helped me raise money for the Livestrong Challenge this year. I managed to raise $385 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which does amazing amazing things.
After 8 months of training, the weekend is finally here....and I can't go!! After training, and blogging, and money raising, I am not going. But, the money still went without me, so that is the most important thing.

Why am I not there? Because, today, Gary and I bought our first house!!! Needless to say...getting into a house is financially gutting no matter how prepared you think you are, so I could not do a weekend out of town :(

I plan on being back next year for sure though...or maybe even the MS 150! I am still on for the Aramco Half-Marathon in Januray! It is here in Houston, so no travel necessary.

Again, thank you so much to everyone who helped.

10/2/09: LIVESTRONG DAY

LIVESTRONG Day is a global day of action to inspire people to join in the global fight against cancer in communities around the world, inspired by our chairman and founder, Lance Armstrong.

Following his diagnosis of advanced testicular cancer on October 2, 1996, before he knew whether he would survive, Lance started his foundation to fight cancer and help others affected by the disease.

This year, LIVESTRONG Day will take place on October 2 to demonstrate that each person can make a difference in the cancer fight.

Take a moment today to think about how you are trying to Livestrong every day. If you aren't, do it, life is too short to waste. Think about others you know who are Living strong. A great example: http://www.bandssullivan.blogspot.com/

When I decided to join the Lance Armstrong Foundation, I made a commitment to the Livestrong mantra because it spoke to me. It has changed my life; Each and everyday when I feel a moment of weakness, I think of the people this foundation is for and the fights they are fighting, Lance and all he has overcome, and I remind myself that as a young, healthy woman I can Livestrong.

Congratulate yourself today if you are living strong. Despite an immense amount of stress and feelings of inadequacy, today I am proud of myself: I teach 2 Developmental English courses (for the first time). I rack my brains everyday trying to create the most effective plan I can for these students, and cry when they struggle. I am a graduate student- something I NEVER thought I would be. I am training for the Livestrong Challenge for the end of this month, running and biking side by side; I am also training for a half-marathon--Less than a year after a knee surgery and a miserable long-lasting virus. My husband and I focus on caring for our bodies: eating clean, fueling ourselves with nutritious foods, regular check-ups and preventative measures, and exercise to stay strong mentally and physically.

Tis the Season for Running

Yesterday was the first amazing day of Fall-ish weather, and man does it make for a wonderful run! It is such a great feeling every year when, after suffering through the heat, humidity, and icky treadmill-days of summer, that first day of great weather arrives. Every summer I lose mileage, speed, endurance and soften up a lot!
Most people find it hard to watch their weight in the Fall and Winter months; I am just the opposite. I love running so much more and can go much further in the cool, dry weather. Not only that, but I LOVE soups, stews, and chilies-all healthy things I pretty much live on in the winter.

I will do my first race in a looong time at the end of October. I am definitely ready for it!

Mono, How Lovely to See You Again.

I have been feeling so crappy lately; I am always painfully exhausted despite 9-10 hours of sleep at night and mandatory daytime naps. I have been achy and nauseous. The worst part, I have not been able to be nearly as physically active as I would like in weeks. So today I broke down and went to the doctor. I was kind of hoping it would be something acute that I could kick once I knew what is was, like an infection, but no. I tested positive for Mono. Again. This is so disheartening to me. There is nothing I can do, nothing. I just have to suffer through it and then wait for it to randomly attack me again. I have not even been able to run a mile, so I am pretty sure the race I was planning on doing this upcoming weekend is off.
And, despite what everyone says, "it's not important" blah blah blah, I don't like physically getting out of shape. I have become flabby and can see my body changing and that is just no fair!
I am mad. I am annoyed. I am depressed over this. I feel awful, I can't "rest" because I have tons to do for school and work, and now I can't even run which is my stress-reliever.

Screw Mono.

The Sinister Side of Cycling

I do love cycling. The road bike has been a completely new experience for me, I don't know why, but it is very different from my Target Mountain bikes I always rode around. The road bike has been a completely new endeavor, frustrating and yet exciting nonetheless. It is hard, tiring, confusing, scary...but it is fun, and most of the time you look like a total bad-ass on the road.
But there is a part of it I don't like. The snobbery that seems to accompany the sport. Granted, I have met some really nice cyclists, but unfortunately they cycle alone for the reason I have just stated. I have really been wishing that I could do some more group cycling because I am getting very bored in my area and would like to venture out, but don't want to do it alone. It's just not safe. Plus I would just like to have some people to talk to about bike issues, trails, races, etc. I am going to be in the Livestrong Challenge in less than a month with 1,000 other cyclist and have never even ridden in a large group!
Overall, it's not a big deal. What has sparked my realization today, though, is my tires- they are flat. I have all the stuff I need to fix flat tires. I have watched Youtube videos over and over and over, and read instructions- but I just can't do it. In fact, I am just mechanically inept all around and always have been. So I will need to take my bike into the shop for some help. I have been dreading it, though. Oh my God the looks and attitude I will get for bringing my bike in for that. There really is no room for a newbie in the world of road biking and frankly, I am annoyed.

So really, come on cyclists. Loosen up those spandex shorts and lighten up!

You are what you eat.

And I have been eating bad. Granted, I don't eat fast food every week or anything like that, but I have been much more careless the last month. The combination of first semester teaching + grad school has led to a many moments of attempted "carbocide". I have not gained weight, per say, but I definitely have added some body fat and feel bad.
It finally has gotten through to me, though, because what you eat has such an impact on your training. Lately my runs have been bad. I mean, BAD! I can't go longer distances, walking a lot, just plain feeling weak. It just hit me today that it is so related to my lazy eating habits.
So I am making a dedication to myself to get back to clean-eating. I may be busy and stressed, but I feel so much better when I am fueling my body with clean, real Food. I have worked way to hard to get to where I am to go back to not being able to run even a few miles!
This blog is a great resource on clean eating: http://eatingcleanworks.com/category/what-is-eating-clean

H.I.I.T and Run

H.I.I.T., or, High Intensity Interval Training, is something that I really started hearing a lot about just last year. While it is something that athletes and runners training for various things have always known about, I guess it just exploded onto the normy-scene recently. I started seeing this acronym everywhere on my favorite health & fitness message board, but since it seemed pretty hard-core I just ignored those post. One day out of boredom (meaning I probably had something pressing to do for school and anything else was better to give my attention to) I decided to open it up.
HIIT is essentially just what the name says it is- high intensity intervals. It is probably the best way to not only improve your endurance, but also really kickstart you metabolism if you are trying to lose weight. You get your heartrate up super high for a very short time, then recover, then do it again. You body has to work much harder and learn to recover much quicker. It is a great thing to do especially if you have hit a weightloss plateau or you need to work on increasing your distance during your tempo runs.
You can do it best, i my humble opinion, only running or on a bike. I don't think it is safe or effective to try HIIT on th treadmill as it is very dangerous to try and change the speed while sprinting,plus it takes time to change the speeds. I think the best way if you must do an indoor HIIT session is on a spinner bike. That is why spin-classes are so great..they are like an hour of HIIT.
I have found the most effective way is to do it on a track. Here is the plan,plain and simple: Sprint as hard as you can for 30 seconds, then walk 45-60 seconds, then take off again. Repeating this 8-12 times. The great part- it only takes 15-20 minutes! It sounds too good to be true, but not to worry, it is MUCH more difficult than it appears at first glance. I have a hard time doing it because I feel like when I sprint I am going to fall flat on my face, but I still try to throw it in here and there. I have not been doing it enough as my knees have been bothering me again (which I am very bitter about might I add..).

So give it a try, just 2 or 3 times a week (maybe on the days you do weight training). You will be suprised at what it can do for you.