Goodbye October... Hello November

With tomorrow being a rest day, I thought I would take look at some stats from the past few months. Now, one of the reasons why I wanted to attempt Octapolluza was to get back into some sort of schedule and be consistent. With work, I have "settled-in". I have been able to leave work around 4ish instead of 5 or 6 and spending less weekend hours getting organized or caught up, which in return has been a huge help in getting into a regular schedule with the gym. Even though I went above my alotted "1 rest day" per week with Octapolluza (taking a whoppin' 10 rest days out of 31!), I felt this month was quite successful.

AUGUST

• Running = 17.39 miles
• Cycling/Spinning = 79.31 miles
• Swimming = 2150M

SEPTEMBER

• Running = 20.22 miles
• Cycling/Spinning = 118.78 miles
• Swimming = 0
  

OCTOBER

• Running = 30.44 miles
• Cycling/Spinning = 129.03
• Swimming = 1500M

Now there was definite increase in all areas... except for swimming. The pool was closed for almost 3 weeks in late August and September. Then, it took me a while to get my scared-self to get back in the water. I was dreading the fact that I had to reteach myself how to breath and do the american crawl the appropriate way. But, I got back in there. And... I HEART it. I HEART running...swimming...and cycling... being able to do all three on a regular basis keeps the gym from getting boring... I look forward to the next 14.5 weeks of tri-training! I will still continue to focus on running for the next few weeks to be ready for the big Turkey Trot on Turkey Day... mmm.. I can taste the stuffing, rice, and pumpkin pie already...

Have a great Halloween y'all! And those of you who are parents of littles ones... think of their teachers and having to deal with kids coming off a sugar highs from tomorrow's halloween parties and trick-or-treating candy in the evening. Lucky me, I will have a sub Thursday as us special ed teachers have a day-long meeting to partake in! Yippee!

Today's Workout:
4.06 mile run
strength training

Were you arrested today?

It is definitely Monday. When leaving for work I noticed my dome light was on in my car! Dang! Dead battery. I had to catch a ride from a co-worker. I think what made me more crazy was not the fact that my car didn't start, but the thought of not being able to get it taken care of in time to do my workout this evening!

Crazy, I know.

But, all was good.

My workout was a okay okay. My 2 mile run seemed almost impossible and I felt as if I was moving in slow motion. It took forever to get those 2 miles down. Then I hussled to the locker room to get ready for the pool. Once in the water, I noticed my triceps were a little sore. I couldn't imagine it was from my lifting on Saturday. But, I pushed through my swim. I probably could have done more but didn't want to push it too hard. I have never done a run/swim session before. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being super-awesome, I would have to say this was an interesting 7.

On the way home from the gym today, I heard a funny on the radio. I guess the cops in town had sent out letters to people stating that if they were interested in free tickets to Ozzy's concern tonight they should show up at a local bar today to receive them. First of all, this bar is currently closed for remodeling. Second, the people that did show up, were arrested! Supposedly they had warrants out for their arrest! Ha! Isn't that hillarious? I was amused.

Octapolluza has been pretty much thrown out the window. Every since my weekend of painting and then starting with this triathlon training last week. Oh well! It was fun while it lasted!

Today's Workout:
2 mile run
500M swim

Good Times

Last night a bunch of us went out for dinner and then to my place to get ready to go out! Our plan was to dress up in our halloween costumes and then head to a bar not far from my place. We were afraid that not many were dressing up, but we went anyway! A couple went as eighties girls with hair crimped and all, but I won't post their pics... Here are a few pics....
Yes... I went as a Referee.... a Basketball Referee to be exact! So comfy! Some abnoxious guy kept yelling "safe" when I passed him... do I look like a baseball umpire to you? geez.

Whatcha drinkin' there... little miss red riding hood?

You started it... "too-cool-to-dress-up-guy!".... bring it!
(Don't worry...he's a friend of mine)

Can you tell this is the end of the night? All huggy huggy with my best bud!

Tons of fun was had by all!

Now, I am off to watch some Vikings in my purple jersey. Hopefully I will make it to the gym later today if I can rest my sore muscles for a while first!

Funk

Yesterday I was in a total funk. And, I am sure it stemmed from everything going on this week at work, getting in some workouts, and then not getting enough sleep at night.

I was planning on running yesterday afterschool and then doing some bowling with a few friends. I backed out of both. Instead, I left work, grabbed some essential groceries, made dinner and fell asleep on the couch a little after 6. I didn't take a nap. I slept. Until the tv woke me shortly after midnight. From there I crawled into my bed and slept until 8. I know that I need atleast 8-9 hours of sleep each night, and when I am getting 6-7 hours and not sleeping well, I can't function. I am tired at work, and I struggle at the gym as well.

This morning I laid around for a couple hours (after feeling completely rested) and then headed to the gym for a nice run. I focussed on do a little speed work and a lot of hills. I am sure my quads will thank me tomorrow. Before leaving the gym I did a serious ab workout and lifted a bit to beef up da pipes! ha!

Y'all still haven't guess my halloween costume. Perhaps I will post a pic later!

Today's Workout:
3.3 miles run
abs
weights - arms

Twenty Thursday

Now, all of those who have attempted to guess my Halloween costume ... no one has had a correct answer, yet. Which means either it is pretty clever or original .... or it is extremely lame and boring. Either way, I am not looking for something else! The guessing booth is still open!

I thought my day had reached it's peak when I was able to accomplish 20+ miles in spin tonight! But no... I got home from a friends house after having a nice meal and a glass of wine while watching Grey's Anatomy.... only to find only 1 item in my mailbox. What might that be, you ask? It was this month's issue of Runner's World! I had such a difficult time switching my address with the dang automated answering machine, that I wasn't expecting this issue! How pumped am I?! Super pumped.

Tomorrow I plan to do a short run after school, freshen up and then a few of us are going bowling! Yep! And there is a cowboy theme. I just need to find something to wear!

Have a great Friday, y'all!

Today's Workout:
20.36 miles in 60 minutes
intense ab workout

Wacky Wednesday

I don't know if it was a full moon, something in the water, or fried brains from the third morning full of statewide testing, but the kids were full of it today. Some were talking about having guns (you know...the big bazookas .. their arms), having six packs, one having gas from lunch (the 4 day in the past week); one was taking about dressing her dog as a pimp for halloween, having crushes, and a fourth grade student scared of a girl because she was telling him she wanted him to marry her.... it was a wacky wednesday. Most definitely. They make me laugh though. It was a good day.

I went shopping for Halloween costumes today after school. There's nothing like leaving it for the last minute. Some of those dang costumes are so skanky. I couldn't do it! So I opted for something more comfortable and semi-homemade. I'll give you a hint. ... I will be in black and white from head to toe!

Today's Workout:
2.6 miles run

Torture Tuesday

Could this week get any worse?

Yes, it could. But I am not going to let it.

Yesterday I might have vented too much about work, and I need to keep it at a minimal. Today was stressful, but tomorrow is a new day and I will walk into the school with my head held high and a smile on my face!

Tonight I headed to the gym with one goal in mind. Work my ass off. I ran a quick mile before spin and it felt great. I was strong and dug deep with each stride. Spin was great. We worked hard on our form (facing the mirror this time). We worked hard on our sprints and grinding out steep hills. It was a tough workout. And what could be better than topping it off with a nice ab workout? We called it "Torture Tuesday".

On a training note, when working on my schedule last night, I realized that I was going to go with a 16 weeek plan. Thus, meaning I would be starting this week! Eeks!! And yes, Wes, they have 16 week plans, and they have 22 week plans! I just wanted to start now, slow and steady, to become comfortable with the pool again. The first month I am going to focus on running with some swimming and cycling. This way I can get ready for the Turkey Trot in less than 5 weeks! So, as I know it is not set in stone, and things will change or need to be juggled around with being gone on some weekends or being away for the holidays. That's life! So in attempt to have some structure in my life, and after looking over numerous race calendars/schedules (all being completely different) this is what it is what I came up with (for the most part):

MONDAY: Short Swim (400-800M), Short Bike (5-8 miles)
TUESDAY: Long Run (3+ miles), Strength Training (arms, legs, & core)
WEDNESDAY: REST
THURSDAY: SPIN (avg. 12-20 miles), Short Run (1-2 miles)
FRIDAY: Run (2-3 miles), Strength Training (arms, legs, & core)
SATURDAY: Long Swim (800-1600M), Short Bike (5-8 miles)
SUNDAY: REST

So, there you have it! I hope I can stick to it! This week is already out of wack, but I have rearranged some things to make sure I get what I need!

Today's Workout:
1 mile run --> 11:06 min.
Spin 15.47 --> 51:04 (3.18min/mile)

Communication is the key

I left work today as soon as my "contract hours" were up. I wasn't in the mood to stick around, and to be honest, there wasn't anything that needed to be done for tomorrow or for the rest of the week. I felt a headache coming on and it could have been due to some issues arrising at work... having nothing to do with the kids. Lack of communication, not on my part, is hard to deal with, especially in the field of education and special education particularly. I am really good about inquiring about how my students are doing in the classroom and in the resource room, as well taking care of my job as a special education caseload manager. I am an easily-approachable peson who looks out for the best interest of my students and have a real problem when people don't come to me or express their concerns when I ask how a student may be doing in the classroom. I am trying to do my job the best that I can, but I can't do it when the communication is only going in one direction. The day couldn't have ended better ... with a "no show" for a meeting. Supposedly the parent forgot, thus we had to reschedule. Oh well, life will go on... and tomorrow will be a better day.

With that note, I am still extremely sore from helping my sister and her hubby move this weekend. My left calf is tighter than tight, my hip flexors are sore, and my butt feels like it went through a meat grinder. Lovely. I am not worried about Octapolluza today... today is a rest day. Done and done.

I am going to chill this evening, look over a few different kinds of training schedules, and hope to map out a 15 week training schedule to follow starting next week. ... with the idea of doing Tri-U-Mah in February! Don't worry IronGambit... I plan on doing Danskin, I just need to figure out when and where... .. ...hence the question marks on my race schedule on the sidebar!

The Big Move

This weekend went fast and was full of hard work and some good "togetherness" with the family!

Friday we arrive in the cities to help my sister and her husband move into their first home. We packed up the truck, drove to another suburb of minneapolis, and unloaded the items in the truck into the garage!!

Saturday we were up and went to work right away; taping and laying plastic in almost every room on the main floor. There was a lot of painting that needed to be done!


Even Deja was tired before we started!

We were given a mandatory lunch break and took advantage of the warm 70 degree weather out on the patio. .... and then back to work we went!

the new homeowners

After a long day of painting, we closed out the evening with some unpacking of kitchen things. This morning I was very sore... from my calves up to my butt. It must have been from climbing up and down the ladder numerous times, as well as carry boxes up and down stairs...

....congrats to Steph & Blaine on their first home!

On a side note, I have not done squat for Octapolluza in the past three days. Does climbing stairs and ladders and as well as painting count for something? Tomorrow I will be back in the pool!

What kind of day off is this?

It was nice to have today off. I still went into work briefly this morning, but it was nice to sleep in a little bit. I had a doctor's appointment today that I have been dreading. Growing up I have had a lot of ear aches and tubes in my ears and so forth, which has been a partial reason for some significant hearing loss. This appointment was scheduled due to the fact that a doctor of mine noticed that I still had a tube in my right ear... from 8 years ago. Those usually fall out on their own. It needed to be removed. In order to see this ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat Doctor), I had to have an appointment with an Audiologist. I don't know what I dread worse. I hate going in that little dark room, putting on those head phones, and raising my hand every time I hear that beep. I can't tell you how many times I have gone through this! But now, time has changed, and instead of raising my stupid hand, I get to press a button on a little clicker. After listing to all the beeps, which caused some repetitive ringing/beeping in my right ear (which has happened in the past), I had to repeat words given to me back to the audiologist... at different decibels in each ear. Then I had to do it again, all at the same decibel....to see if I could hear specific sounds.

After the fun activities, he showed me the results and it wasn't a shock to me. I guess it was to him. Basically both ears were similar. I used to think my left was worse, but it was the same pic in both ears. If you refer to the chart below, my hearing was at about the low normal range for intensity (about 20-30) until you got to into the higher frequency ranges (2000-8000), when it would drop to about 35-50 of 60.... basically I have mild to moderate loss in both ears when it comes to hear sounds such as ch, sh, f, s, k, th, and g. Basically he told me that it would be highlly recommended that I get hearing aids in both ears. I got one for my left ear 8 years ago when I was heading to college and where I spent most of my time in lecture rooms, but it doesn't work anymore. And it was too sensitive to all sounds, which drove me crazy and I stopped wearing it.

I can hear and understand better if I am facing the person and not too far from them. The second they are across the room, turn their back to me or mumble, I am lost. Sometimes I get most of the words and can fill in the blank. Imagine how tiring that can be on the ears. I have been really noticing this when working with some students and when sitting in meetings and my co-workers will turn to me and whisper. Don't whisper to me, because chances are I won't hear ya! Even if I can read lips (most of the time)!

from there, I met with the ENT to remove the tube in the right ear. That was disgusting. You wouldn't believe how much "junk" was wrapped around that thing. The worse part was the doctor asked if I wanted to take it home and put it in my scrapbook. Yuck. Then he did some other test to check on the flexibility of my eustachian tube and everything else. Nose looked good, mouth and throat was perfect, and there was extreme scarring on the left ear canal (probably due to chronic ear infections and tubes starting at a very young age, he said), nothing new to me. He plugged my nose and made me try to pop my ears all while he was looking in my ear. We all know that doesn't feel that great, why would I want to do that? But he said I should do that every day. ... I said "really?" and I think he could see the shock in my face. "11-12 times, if you can" he responded. What a joke. Supposedly my ear canal is so scarred that fluid gets built up easily and this could help to keep it from building up in the eustachian tube. lovely. Just another thing to add to my morning routine! At the end of the appointment he recommended hearing aids. Supposedly he only tells 1-2 patients a year to get hearing aids. I am a lucky one. Now, if I could only afford to fork over a near 5 grand. Geez. But, there are resources out there that I am going to look into.. .. you know, since I am a rich teacher and all!

I was able to sneek in a really quick workout. A boring ride on an indoor bike. Blah. I couldn't handle being on there so I stopped after 6 miles.

Tomorrow morning my youngest sister, the parent units, and I will be heading to the cities to help my sister and her hubby move into their first home! I am pumped for us all to be together.... even if it is a lot of manual labor! I will be back Sunday. Until then, y'all have a great weekend!

Few and Far Between

I ran today. It was one of those runs that made all negative vibes go away, all thoughts of a sore knee disappear, and gave me a sense of feeling that a marathon is possible. Only if each and every run was like this! I will take what I can get.

I have also been doing some thinking about my first tri. I am definitely still considering the Tri-U-Mah in February. Even if it is indoor. Even if it is based on 30 minutes in each discipline. I was looking at the results from last year's race and thinking about what kind of goals I want to be setting for myself. After Octapolluza, I will have a little over 3 months to prepare myself which will be well needed, especially with a couple fall/winter breaks in there. I think I know what I am capable of on the bike and treadmill, but it might take me a couple months to really determine my goal for in the pool. I will post my goals at a later time.

Tonight I will be heading for dinner with a few friends, kind of a celebration for our raise that our school district finally finalized... and a celebration for a nice long weekend to come!

Today's workout:
3.5 mile run

Who knew life could feel so good?

First of all, thanks for all the kind comments in regards to my new PR. I still don't think a full marathon is anywhere in my near future...so until then I will focus on beating my PR over and over again.... and working towards my first tri.

This afternoon I had another training session. I usually only have two different sessions with students in the afternoon and felt it was unecessary to have a sub come in for an hour and a half. With that in mind, I informed my groups yesterday that I was going to be gone, but they were going to be working independently, having the other special education teacher in the room monitor their work. When I left my training session at 3 to head to a special education meeting, I was pleased to hear that both groups worked hard together.

I was super tired with back to back meetings and all I wanted to do was go home and curl up. I think my swim session last night really took everything out of me, but in a good way. I knew I had to workout and I wasn't going to miss spin. Not tonight. I have been to spin time after time and again and each and every session has been different. Love it. I HEART it!

Tomorrow is Friday. Or is it? for me it is! We have Thursday and Friday off and boy am I looking foward to it! Even if I will be placed in laborous conditions with my family by my side, I am really looking foward to it!

Today's workout:
19.18 mile Spin

Broken PR

Today was a decent day overall. I think it helps to remind myself that this week is only a 3 day week. Thank goodness. Our special ed team at our school met with a couple people from the district office to discuss our schedules. With the block scheduling we have had quite the time figuring out our schedules. I don't know if anything positive came out of the meeting. I left right afterwards and wasn't going to stick around to listen to the others discuss (complain).

After running to get some much needed groceries, I headed home to hurry up and make dinner, just so I could sit for a good hour plus before hitting the pool. Tonight I started out slow and picked up the pace in the end. It felt great. If I continue to do this on Monday nights, I will have to remember to pack some shampoo and conditioner. I would rather shower at the gym rather than getting dressed just to go home and shower. Especially when I am left feeling completely exhausted.

Y'all remember the race I did a couple weeks ago? The one where I was assuming I beat my PR? The one where I didn't know for sure because they took so freakin' long to post the results? Well, those results are in people. And I have officially beat my last PR of 37:14.... with 35:30! I know I know. Some of you are thinking, "that isn't fast". But dude, that is better than I have ever done. Slow and steady. I will be getting faster. I may never run a marathon, but I WILL become faster!

Today's Workout:
600M swim

Octapolluza week 2

Recap.....

Monday: 2.15 mile run, lift
Tuesday: 19.05 mile bike
Wednesday: Rest day
Thursday: 10+ mile bike, lunges, abs
Friday: 400M swim
Saturday: 2.25 mile run, lift arms, abs
Sunday: Rest day

If you haven't alreaady noticed, I took two rest days this week. Naughty me! Oh well. This coming week will be interesting to see how I will be able to maintain Octapolluza. I will be heading to the cities to help my sister and her hubby move this weekend. maybe I will use Saturday as a day of "strength training". On a side note, I have been soda free for over 2 weeks!

Tomorrow I will be heading to the pool again! Yippee!

Play by play...

It's been a couple of interesting and not so interesting days...

Yesterday?

Morning: The day started off fine. I had to rush to school, prior to my morning training that started at 7:45, just to get my picture taken. It was picture day. My morning training session on guided reading and some other stuff went rather well. There were a few that had their complaints and I know I had done some complaining prior to the meeting, but I was enjoying it. It was somewhat of a refresher course for me from my days of working towards my elementary degree.

Afternoon: I returned to work, had lunch and began working with a few of my students. This group right after lunch is a great group. They get along really well, work hard, and are able to stay focussed and on task. It was during this half day that I was at school that two crisis' broke out. Talk about planning for the unexpected. I juggled a couple groups while other teachers were dealing with the episodes.

Late Afternoon: I left school right when we are allowed to leave, headed for the gym with plenty of time to change and get to spin. When I walked into the room, all the good bikes (newer bikes) were taken and I was about ready to scream. I wanted to just turn around and find something else to do. I was crabby from work, I had driven all the way down town for this class, and now I had to choose a crappy bike. The resistence gauge was super sensitive, the handle bars are too close to the body, the seats aren't as adjustable, and there is no equipment on them that tell you your heart rate, cadence, and most importantly mileage. When I would stand on the bike, the pedals would make a clinking nose as if they were going to fall off. These old bikes are pieces of crap and an accident waiting to happen. I stuck it out and made the most of it. We did something different tonight, 30 minutes of intense spinning, and then some work on the abs, back, legs, arms and glutes off the bike. you name it, we probably did it! I felt better after that.

Evening: I rushed home after spin to quickly shower before my company arrived. I was hosting Grey's Anatomy night again and had to get rid of my stinkiness. The 3 girls showed up and we had a drink while waiting for dinner to be done and the show to start. It was a wonderful way to end the day....

________________________________________________________

Today: It was a good day. I couldn't complain. I stayed after work long enough to get caught up on my grading for the most part. That was a good feeling. I hurried out of work shortly before 5, went home, changed into my suit (yep you read that right), and headed for the pool. I was not going to let myself avoid the pool any longer. I HEART the pool, but I knew that when I went back I was going to have to teach myself the proper breathing technique and I dreaded it. I was afraid I wasn't going to get it down and I was not looking forward to some 16 year old life guard watching me the entire time. Well, I did it. I took my time and just played around in the water for a while. Eventually I started to do some laps. It felt so awesome to be back in the pool! I think I am going to try and make monday my pool night....

Tonight: Late dinner + couch + baseball = friday fun

Tomorrow: All I know is that I need to run, lifts weights, and put in a good amount of time at work. I have to. I will be gone next weekend.

_______________________________________________________

Thursday's workout:
at least 10 mile spin

Friday's workout:
400 meters

Is it Friday yet?

Today was a quite the day at work. Despite how I felt like a chicken running around with my head chopped off, I was able to accomplish a lot and the day flew by fast. I spent most of my time after school making photo copies, preparing spelling packets, running off paperwork, scheduling a meeting, etc. It's a never ending cycle, but I do feel as if a lot was done.

Today I while working with one of my written language groups, I decided to use the last 15 minutes of our time working on their assignment I was going to send home with them. All they had to do was write sentences for their 10 spelling words. Simple enough. Not really. It's amazing how many times you can remind them to use correct puncuation, capitalization and make sure their sentences makes sense .... all for them to disregard it all. But, I had to chuckle at a few of their sentences. I didn't realized how much kids think about the opposite sex in the 4th grade... and use their thoughts and feelings to write their sentences. Kids are too funny.

I don't know if it was my 10 hour workday or what, but I have opted to use my rest day today. I wasn't able to get up this morning to run, and when I left work shortly before 6 tonight I was extremely hungry and on the verge of getting a nasty headache. It wasn't too hard to talk myself into using my rest day today rather than friday. I just wanted to come home, eat and chill.

Speaking of chill. It's cold here today. This morning it was only 37 degrees. The wind was what made it so cold. The kids came rolling in with rosy cheeks; complaining of the "freezing" weather. It made me chuckle. I wanted to remind them of what it will be like a couple months from now!

The Towel

Tonights spin session focussed on heart rate. Building our heart rate and keeping it high for an extended period of time, and then dropping it to a level that still results in a good workout. Up, down, up, down. This is the way we burn more calories and more fat.

All was great until she pulled out the dang gym towel. Those of us who knew what this meant sighed, and we were the first to get punished. The newbies were in for a real treat and had looks of confusion across their faces. Ha! Little did they know. What-do-ya-know... Stacy get's the towel. Why me? What does she do? She had us sprinting and then bam, she rubs the towel against our wheel to increase resistance.... and it seems as if she was never going to let it go! This would have been different if it weren't the end of our class. But she had to do it when we were close to exhaustion. But I must admit, it can be very motivating at times!

Tomorrow, if all goes as plans, I hope to get to the gym in the AM, that way I can work until late. Thursday I have a stupid training to go to in the morning which requires more work for me to prepare for a sub. I hate being gone.

Today's workout:
19.05 miles spin

Monday, Monday

Today was a good day at work. The kids were good and they worked hard. I was very happy with them all. It was after work that totally drained me. In short, we had a huge meeting to discuss issues with our educator's association rep to take care of some serious business. It will be interesting to see how things pan out.

I left that meeting after 5 and couldn't wait to get to the gym. I was ready to change gears and relax for the evening. My run went really well. It was cut short because we are only alotted 30 minutes on the machines (especially when it is super busy), and the chick on there before me went over her time she "signed up" for. Damn her.

After my run yesterday, I worked my legs over with the weights. I was definitely feeling it in my groin area today. When working my hip abductors yesterday, I noticed that my outer muscles were a whole lot stronger then the inner muscles (as I could lift twice as much)... hence the reason why my groin area hurts today.

Tomorrow is a spin day.

Today's workout:
2.15 mile run

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body

Yesterday was a day full of shopping with a friend. I was very excited to find some work clothes. My new favorite store is New York and Company! I also spent a good hour at scheel's looking at bikes and bike stuff, you know... shoes, clothes, etc. I have a lot to learn! On a fluke, we ended up going to a local running store. When I was there, I discussed with the two employees the situation with my knee. They asked if I would be willing to do a couple things in order for them to determine what kind of shoes I should be running in. Heck ya! After these activities, they gave me a few shoes to try on. The Brooks Trance7, New Balance, and the Mizuno Nirvana3. I liked them all. I really liked the Nirvana's but maybe that was due to the colors! Ironically, when I was at scheel's, I was carrying around a pair of Brooks trance6 that were on sale but ended up putting them back on the shelf before leaving. After leaving this running store, we ran to scheel's again and I picked up those shoes. They were a steal! I just couldn't pass them up.

This morning I tested out the new shoes. I know what you are thinking.... didn't she just buy new shoes less than a month ago? And yes, yes I did. And I don't know what I will be doing with them. A part of me wants to return them, but I will hold onto then for a while longer. But, the shoes were wonderful and my run went well! Can't complain here.

I was thinking I would head into school today for a couple hours but after my workout I told myself I wasn't going to do it. I couldn't. I couldn't think of anything that needed to be done for tomorrow, or tuesday for that matter. It wasn't necissary to go in this weekend. A decision guilt free.

I will spend the rest of the day flipping back and forth between football and baseball.. I couldn't think of a better way to spend a wet and gloomy Sunday.

Yesterday's workout:
19.43 mi Spin
(shopping all day)

Today's workout:
2.5 mile run
strength training (legs) & abs


Week 1 Octapolluza results:

• 6 days of workouts with 1 optional rest day on friday
• 2 spin sessions, 4 runs
• No soda for over a week.
• 2 strength training days.
• 1 arms, 1 legs
  

Cheers to a great week ahead of y'all!

Day 4

There's not much to report today. After school, I went with a bunch of other sped teachers to grab a margarita and tacos. It was nice to be able to sit and chat and have some down time after school. But I knew that I still needed to get to the gym so I only had one and drank a big glass of water as well. I had a couple errands to run and I finally got to the gym shortly before 7ish. My goal was to get home in time to watch Grey's Anatomy after run and strength workout. Check.

Quick question.... which is better... the tiger tail or the marathon stick?

I know the weekend will be here and gone in the blink of an eye. With that thought, I have been soda-free for a week now! And no withdrawals. Well, their minimal. Since tomorrow is payday, a few of us are going to continue with our tradition of aps-and-taps-on-payday right after school. Thus, I am going to use my one optional rest day for the week, tomorrow. Saturday will consist of a good spin session and possibly more strength training. I am planning to meet some people at a sports bar to watch the Purdue/Ohio State game saturday night. On Sunday I will either run or swim. Oh, and I forgot to mention... I will probably be sneaking into work on saturday for a few hours. But just a few. No worries. I have to start graphing my progress charts and it should only take a short while.

Have a great weekend y'all! And good luck to those running Chicago this weekend!

Day 4 Octapolluza:
2.25 mile run
strength training and abs

oak autumn leaf

The Great

This past weekend when I was in GF, we were at the mall doing some shopping. Me being the person that can't handle hours of shopping in a big group, and my god-daughter and her sister not being able to handle it either, we decided to head for the pet store. Not such a good idea. They had two great danes there and I fell in love. Seeing the harlequin made me miss my puppy, Duke. Duke was a harlequin/merle. Danes are the most calm, loving, dogs I have met. And great cuddlers. When I get my own home, I hope to purchase a puppy.... it's the first thing on my to-do-list. Being able to get another Dane would be even better!

Last night's spin session left me really sore. Really sore in the arms. I forget how much work we do on our arms on the bike. I usually keep my handle bars pretty low, for a more intense workout and when we do our pushups, which we seemed to have done hundreds of last night, it's a pretty tough ride. But, I must admit, the jiggly of the under arms are at a minimal due to this!

Tonight I was going to go the gym at 745 to do some swimming, since that was when lap swimming began. I couldn't wait. I didn't want to wait until then to go workout. So, a friend called and we met at the gym to run a couple miles. I walked the first half mile just in case, and ran the rest. My knee was fine. Maybe MPA and Jess are right. I might need some sort of knee band thingy to keep my knee in proper place... I think it has to do with the knee cap or something rubbing wrong. I would hate to do more damage. But, when paying attention to where I was landing on my foot and the placement of my knee, my run was successful!

To answer IronGambit's question, the reason why I have ??? next to the Danskin race is because they haven't posted the 2008 schedule yet.

Day 3 Octapolluza:
2.4 mile run

Stronger

That that don't kill me ... can only make me stronger....


That was our theme song for the night at spin. The class kicked my ass, but all is good. I think.

This song may have to be a theme song of mine for the month of October. I hope I can hold up my own expectations for the month. I forgot to mention that in my run last night, my knee became a little clickity... kind of like what it did after my 7 miler in july. Made me a little nervous. Just when I feel as if I am ready to go further, some damn thing wants to get in my way.

Think positive. .... think positive...

that that that that don't kill me... can only make me stronger....

Day 2 Octapolluza:
19.27 mile Spin

Welcome, October!

To start off the month and Octapolluza, I was hoping to get up this morning and hit the gym for a couple miles. I guess getting up and getting it done this morning was a little too ambitious. Instead, I put in a good 9 hours at work and headed home for a nice run before dinner. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. Sunny, 71 degrees, a cool fall breeze no matter which direction I was heading in, and the sound of leaves crunching under my feet!

Today's Workout:
2.48 mile run