One Step at a Time

Generally, the purpose of my swim is to go the distance, and lose my mind (in a good way) in the motion. I alternate 50 m – 75 m of freestyle with 25 m of breaststroke, and usually swim 2k.

Not today.

Today I pushed it. Did 1500 m … hard. Usually I use breaststroke to rest a bit and catch my breath. I did very few “easy” lengths, and my heart was pumping!

My arms and legs are tiiiiiiiiired. The kids are off school today (my neighbour watched mine while I went to swim, and now I have hers while she goes to the gym… it’s a lovely arrangement, and kids are happy!). I think when the “extras” go home, I’ll suggest to my boys that we hot tub while the baby sleeps.

My question is: do you get stuck in any fitness “ruts”? Do you have to remind yourself to push your limits, or are you naturally inclined to do so?

… because I know how they feel.

They purchased a PC last year, and they are so afraid of the thing that it is hilarious. They hover around it like it’s going to spit out microwaves that might eat their brain cells or steal their bank statements or something. They’re getting better (ie. they’ll open my emails) but it’s been a long year … between my brother and I begging one another to PLEASE be their sole technical support.

Well, I’m no better with my new running toy. I’m playing with the Forerunner, which I’m still affectionately trying to name, and I’m trying not to run into things … but I need some help on something that may have such a simple answer (I hope.) I’m training for a 5k run. So do I set this thing to kms or miles? I get so picky about dumb things, and it’s driving me nuts that everything just can’t be metric for my metric, Canuck, grew up in the 70′s mind. However, my training plan is basically in miles … so is that just smarter for me to set it by? This is such a dumb thing, but it’s bugging me. Do I just need a math tutorial?? Some voice of experience just tell me what’s best here.

I walked today to my bro’s house and back to a playground just a bit from my house. I was just so very pleased because that distance is exactly 5k, on the nose! I walked, not ran, because the snow dump left the trail quite icy, and it was borderline dark so I didn’t want to have a silly fall. 5k in 45:00.53 . Felt really good, because I wasn’t walking full out hard because of the ice I couldn’t see so well. I also wanted to walk exactly 5k today to take the “stigma” off that number for me. 5k is just from one house to another, no biggie.

G’morning.

I caught about 3 hours of sleep after blogging last night, until I had to get up to battle the roads (big snowfall last night) to be at a 8 a.m. meeting (yuck… who schedules these things??). I was thinking that I need to really examine this insomnia, and try to keep a log of sorts to identify some of the causes that I may not be aware of.

After the meeting, I went to my second iridology appointment. Jonah is way too good-looking of a wholistic practictioner to be staring at my eyes that long without me blushing! I amazed at the information this guy has from peering at my iris for a half an hour. At my first appointment, he could tell me about the births of my kids, miscarriages I’ve had, a groin pull, etc. This time, we talked insomnia. (Do you think my blaring red eyes, and being unable to keep them open enough were a clue??) He also believes that I am lactose intolerant, and I need to re-work my diet. He says this can cause stomach upset (which I’ve always thought were normal nerves), and a schwack of other issues, including insomnia. He’s recommending a herbal cleanse, which kind of scares me. I’ll go back on Monday to talk that over, as “herbal cleansing” just sounds icky to do before my cousin’s wedding this weekend.

Anyways, two good notes from Jonah: He can see my fitness improving in my eyes! (I can almost hear the RBF giggling now! ) My heart shows up healthier on the good ol’ iridology map. Also, he says I have “true blue” eyes. At first that caused more blushing, but actually he says that only 11% of the population really should have blue eyes. The rest are just brown or hazel eyes gone bad, apparently.

I wouldn’t bet the bank on iridology, but I’m open-minded to these things. Hey, I’ll pay $30 for someone professional to say I’m fitter!

Oh, and Jonah loves to talk poop. He says your feces is a big indicator of health. Brace yourself: Jonah says you should have 3 bowel movements per day, they should be as long as your elbow to wrist, and (drum roll please), they should float and not smell. That’s a tall order. (I wonder how I looked with my mouth hanging open in awe for this conversation.) I must be overtired; I have no idea why I’m sharing this information with you. Oh well, Jack talked about pee, I guess I can add to the discussion.

Please steer your comments towards your experience with iridology or wholistic health practices that have worked for you, and any experience you have with lactose intolerance. Thank-you for your consideration in this matter.

I thought regular exercise was supposed to be a surefire cure for insomnia???? I’m experiencing a terrible bout of insomnia right now. My insomnia is generally affected by my creativity: if I have something “pressing” on the go writing-wise, then I have so much trouble sleeping. Generally, I’m able to sleep for about 2 hours, and then by this time, I’m tossing and turning, which then gives my husband a rotten sleep.

Funny thing, I did have time for a dream tonight, before I woke up. In my dream, Hal Higdon was doing a Robert Munsch reading at a local Chapters store. Everyone in the audience thought it was Munsch, and I kept whispering, “That’s Hal Higdon…”, until I got escorted out for being disruptive.

Oh my. Dream analyzers: have a hayday.

I’m all over Hal Higdon’s site today. I’ve printed out the 5k training guide, and later, when Camryn’s napping, I’m going to sit with it and my calendar and try to figure out what works.

My husband’s work schedule is an 8-day rotation: 2 Day shifts (7 a.m.-7p.m.) then 2 night shifts, and then 4 days off (the first being primarily a sleep day.) Crowding in my workouts around this has been difficult, as sometimes I’ll work out later at night (ie. after his 2nd day shift) and then have to turn around and do the next morning (before he goes to sleep for night shift.) This may not make any sense to non-shift-working people, but figuring out something that works for us, that allows me to find minimal childcare, and that gives us time together too is critical.

Running outdoors more, vs. going to the gym, has helped a lot in terms of saving me time. Nice to just slip outside my door and be on the path … and that’s something that I can take kids with me.

Anyhow, I just know that this whole time obstacle will work itself out. I think it came to light this week when I realized how much time I’ve been spending on fitness, and how little on my work project, or just “down” time with my family.

I also have to say that I completely LOVE reading people’s race reports. Some make me misty-eyed! It is soooo inspiring to read about people’s experiences … so, for all of you racers out there … you have a big role to play here. You inspire beginners like me. I’m going to be running my first 5k on Father’s Day.

Haven’t done much fitness-wise this weekend … busy with lotsa family stuff. Will take Troy to the pool later tonight and get a swim in, but not much else.

Did some reflecting today, and I’ve realized that I’m being kind of willy-nilly (yes, my specialty is geriatrics, and yes, the vocab is catching…) with what I’m doing. I realize that exercising more than I ever have, but I feel like I don’t have a clear plan. The goal used to be weight loss, and I still have weight to lose, so that goal is still there, but now has expanded to feeling fit, strong. I run when I can, I swim when I can, I do strength stuff when I can. It works out to a lot actually, but I don’t have a real plan to measure success by. Time and distance goals … something to say: Hey! I made it over that hurdle … on to the next!

My husband being a shift worker makes it really hard for me to have a Mon-Fri kind of plan, so I think I need to be more creative in setting something out.

Going to read Hal Higdon later and see if I can set out something concrete to help me feel really ready for entering a 5k.

I think I reflect best when I’m quiet. You?

Today is a testimonial for working out first thing in the morning, or one just doesn’t fit it in.

My day has been busy with preparing for a friend’s surprise birthday party (well, her husband still thinks it’s a surprise, but she’s pretty much got that figured out.) After such a week of tears, I’m looking forward to hanging out with friends. I also am doing a mountain of laundry; getting my kids ready to go for a sleepover at our neighbours so we can go to the “surprise” party; getting our costumes together, as the party is in a 70′s theme, including trying to do my hair like Kitty Foreman; organizing the coach’s gift for our final indoor soccer tourney tomorrow; consoling a crying student (yes, I teach adults) on the phone…. it’s just been a nutso kind of day. (Now I sound 70′s … nutso?? Who is typing for me anyways? Marcia Brady? Tabitha? )

Glad I ran this morning. I supposed to do core work, but I completely pretended that I didn’t know what day it was. I hate working my core. Why is it so hard, and so NOT enjoyable?

So, if I’m so busy, why am I here on the computer? I’m having a Diet Coke break, of course. Another habit to break, but it’s my first and probably only one for the day, so I’ll just enjoy it.

Parting thought: I hope my husband looks like Starsky tonight in his jumpsuit. I had a biiiiiiiiiiig crush on Starsky as a kid. Much as I love Ben Stiller, the remake did nothing for me.

Happy Weekend!

… what was your favorite TV show in the 70′s?

My son and I had to go to the dentist this morning, but we got out much earlier than I expected. So we skipped Kindergarten (pray that he’ll still get into college, will ya?) and had a fun morning. I ran and he biked to a park, about 1.7 km away (love my gadget!) and then we played. I treasure 1:1 time with any of our three, and today was a prime example. No sibling rivalry, no chasing someone making a break for it with a mouthful of sand. Just the boy and me. He taught me how to play “Grounders”, a playground game that required me to climb a lot and (eek) close my eyes more than I really wanted to. Kid’s games fascinate me. Then we ran/cycled home, stopping to buy gum on the way. (Gum is this one’s all-time favorite treat.)

While running, I felt such a good rhythm today. I’d have to mark today as a day that I didn’t feel like I had to coax myself through it with self-talk, but where I could just enjoy it. That’s big for me.

What an awesome morning … and a great energy-booster! How was your run?

Here is a list of my Wednesday’s Random Thoughts from my workout this morning (running, upper body, and core today. I still hate core work, but I am seeing some good results.) Okay … random thoughts:
1. Excellence. After the RCMP funeral yesterday, this is the lesson I’m taking home for me. Live each day with excellence. The Schiemann family definitely taught that well to each of their three kids; the RCMP instills excellence in training and performance. Now I don’t mean perfection, I mean being as excellent as I can be: as a wife, mom, runner, writer, everything. Today, I translated that by having the internal conversation: Do I need to quit now? Really? Could I run another 3 mins? I bet I could … When I was done, I felt excellent.
2. Pineapple. I love ‘em. I bought a fresh one yesterday to try to subtly convince my husband that we need to take our family to Hawaii. Soon, like yesterday. I’m eating most of it, and still no tickets. Hmmm … should we have a luau for supper?
3. Kids. I’m working on a post about this, a more factually-based one, because the link between kid’s fitness and self-esteem is something I’m very interested in. I get so insane when I see kids encouraged to be inactive and overweight, maybe because I know how much time and energy being overweight has taken up in my life. Why do parents choose that path for their kids?? I’m working on a book for very young kids about this … about an animal triathalon per se … the idea came straight from my boy’s conversation about “what if a bird tried to RUN a race?” I’ll share more as that develops.

Okay, that’s it for me … going to read blogs to see what you’re up to today, eat more pineapple, and write curriculum (yep, in that order.)