Thursday, November 25, 2010

roller coaster

i am knocking on wood. i feel good for the first time since october. i seriously have had a cold, cough or something for pretty much 2 months now. last week i finally got sick enough to have to be off work due to pink eye and strep throat and finally seemed to have gotten better. however, thanks to me not feeling 100% for so long i got on a roller coaster of totally inconsistent exercise and food. ok, the exercise was not so bad. kept up with my cardio mostly but the st lacked. i would get in my mtc workouts 3x per week one week then the next 5 bicep curls were doing me in. i know i felt actually weak and i do not enjoy st when a 5lb weight suddenly feels like 40lbs.

food, i turn to food when i am sick. perhaps due to boredom? perhaps due to trying to make myself feel better??? either way i do not lose my appetite when i am sick. i wish i did. i also do not make the best food choices when i am sick. i am a salt lover but when i am sick it is even more so. bleh. i know all this yet i can't stop myself. thank you amee though again for your toe blog. every time i want to reach for that tim horton's timbit i will think of your tidbit and put it down. well i hope i do. ew!!!!!

i spent the 2 previous days at my sister's house in squamish. it was so nice to get away for the night. the drive up on tuesday was stunning. it is so great my sister and i can see each other whenver we want now. ok it is a 100km drive but that is better than having to fly. yesterday i drove home late yesterday to beat the snow and it only took me 1.25 hours. the weather was perfect though. last time in weather/traffic mess it took almost 2.

although i am physically fine the mental stress of the holidays is starting to loom. trying not to panic as i watch the calendar fill up. today it dawned on my part of that panic is because i see my me time (exercise) dwindle or hard to schedule. it always works out though. i also see my quiet time going. i am not very social. the thought of going out on christmas eve and christmas day is not fun to me at all. i want to stay home and watch movies with my baby. that won't happen though.

our new shifts at work came out today too. they start in feb. so hard to pick. we have to wait to pick based on seniority so i have to be patient as i probably won't even pick for a couple of weeks. i hate it. it alway works out. it always works out. that is my mantra the next couple of weeks.

Monday, November 1, 2010

it's back....

the pain in the back that is. seriously. pretty much 1 month to the day of it leaving. i have been kicking ass lately and doing all my workouts. 3 mtc a week, 1 spin, 1xt and 3runs. on sunday i could feel it tightening up then pow this morning. it is like someone stabbed me.

at first i wasn't going to go to the gym at all. then i thought it may help it loosen up as it sometimes does. i planned on a 2-3 mile run and mtc today. it was obvious to me that wasn't going to happen so i planned on doing light cardio and maybe mtc.

i did 10 mins on the elliptical. felt ok. so decided to do 10 mins of intervals on the treadmill. felt ok. so i went to attempt mtc. not ok. i couldn't even do light weights. just jumed on the bike to do 10 mins so i at least did do 30 mins of cardio.

i went to the chiro this afternoon. he could feel where it hurt but at the same time commented on how loose my back seemed to be in comparison to my usual tightness. whatever. i am over this today.

Friday, October 15, 2010

off day

today i had the most miserable work out. can't put my finger on it exactly. not sure what was going on. i did do a new strength workout on tuesday and that may have had something to do with it as my legs were a bit sore still today.

when i woke up this morning it was a beautiful, crisp fall day. poor puppy looked at me longingly. can we go for a run? i was going to run 2-3 miles today. i planned on it. the thought of running outside was just too much though. i decided to go to the gym instead. sorry pups.

so at the gym i did 3 miserable miles on the treadmill. they were absolute torture. i wanted off ever second of that run. i felt like i was lugging an elephant on my back. i ran mostly at 6mph. within that 3 miles i also did 3 hills at 6% for 1/4 mile. i actually planned to stop at 2.5 miles but i carried the torture on. the whole run i was fidgeting with my ipod, my clothes and pretty much everything.

when i was done it was on to strength training. pull muscle day as i did push on tuesday. very tired during weights. i even cheated my last set of lat pull downs which is not like me. i then went and did some mat work for my itband and butt. i should not have today due to my mood. i could barely do 5 reps of  simple exercises like side leg lifts and clamshells. very humbling. actually i wanted to cry a bit.

the moral of the story. some days it just sucks. we ALL have those days.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

October 3

so i have been struggling the last few weeks with some back pain. it finally seems to disappear as mysteriously as it appeared after several chiro adjustments. then today i woke up to a cold and i am coughing.

for those of you who don't know often when i get a cold the cough can linger for literally months. i try not to think negatively and just hope it clears up asap.

so when i was checking out my workouts at dailymile.com i noticed there is only one week this entire year i didn't do at least one run. if i didn't run today it would have been 2 weeks. i couldn't let that happen so i did a short 2.25 mile run this morning.

i planned on starting "making the cut" workouts again this month. at this point i am going to give my back another week before i start such an intense program again.

this long weekend i am also heading to victoria, bc for a couple of nights with my friend and my son. hoping to meet some fellow sparkers. ds is going to do the kids run. so although i am not running a race i will be doing 1.2 km. this weekend is bringing up bitter sweet memories. 2 years ago i ran my pb for the half in 2:01 and i was probably in the best shape i had ever been in. ok, not sure that is 100% true but that is how i remember it. well at least the 2:01 was true. part of me wishes i was running but most of me doesn't want to dedicate so much time to training and running.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

The Best Roasted Broccoli Recipe

I tried this recipe a few months back and loved it. The broccoli gets so green when you broil it. Just enough sugar that dh and ds ate it too!

The Best Roasted Broccoli Recipe

1ST ENTRY

so i started this blog a very long time ago. maybe 2 years ago? i intended it to be all about running. that was before when i was on a running high and all i did was run run run. i did do other stuff too but my focus mentally and physically was mainly on running.

then i started to get aches and pains in my right hip and lower back. this aches and pains do not seem to get any better with rest and sometimes even seem to get worse. 6 months of physio, chiro and even a sports medicine doctor didn't change much. i have good days and i have bad days. it doesn't hurt while i run. actually i shouldn't really blame running. cause it will hurt after a good walk, bike ride or elliptical session too.

so what does jen do in a typical week for exercise?

run 3 times (one longer run 5-6 miles, 2 shorter runs)
strength train 2x per weeks
spin class 1 time per week minimum
one full rest day per week

any one that knows me from sparkpeople.com though knows i struggle with diet the most. that is where i lack motivation and dedication. if you don't know what sparkpeople is and it is a 100% free diet and lifestyle website. it has a calorie counter, fitness tracker and tons of message boards/teams for any of your needs. some of my best friends are from either sparkpeople and babyfit (sparkpeople for pregnant people). although i have only met a couple of them in person they are often more involved in my personal life than "real" friends.

now back to my diet.... i typically eat 2000 calories a day. most days those are good calories but i do indulge in some not so healthy food more often than i like. i know what i need to do to change but just lack the consistency to keep at it. i work on this daily and try to avoid food triggers such as boredom and what i call angry eating!!!