Be the Tortoise, Not the Hare

They are super cute!! We both love rats--they're so clean. We've litter trained them and they come when they're called when we let them out of the cage for free-running time. But he doesn't like piggies :( No idea why.
 
Hey, having a running date is soo cool!! I always liked exercising with someone else/in group that alone - it adds a certain social factor to it. Mind you - I recently discovered I push myself more when I am alone - not chatting away - but still it's fun!! & you are lucky you can run by water!! i miss the sea.
 
Quercus: Thank you for the encouragement, advice, and helpful links! I think the class will start on Wednesday and I will definitely keep you posted on my workouts. Cardio has always been the simple and less intimidating approach for me; I've always been jealous of females who are comfortable enough to use free weights in a public place. Hopefully that can be me soon!

Fox: My workout was great! An easy-paced three miles or so. You always read that you should be able to hold a conversation when you go on a normal run, and what better way to ensure that you can than by doing it?? We went out with NO electronics - no music, no GPS, no phone... It's nice to just disconnect for a little while. It's rare that I do that. We chatted and enjoyed the scenery and worked hard but not too hard.

Camila: We DO love our significant others, even as we're secretly blaming them for our latest slip-up, haha. Mine's gotten me into hiking, though, so I can't forget that. We've hiked to the top of a couple of major mountains in the area, and we try to get out to some smaller ones when we can.

Hana: Ok, I am officially jealous. I've gotta go look up intelligence levels in rats vs guinea pigs, because my little guys are NOT that smart! They poop wherever they feel like and aren't trained to do anything. Not that we tried to train them...
 
Justina, I'm glad you posted again, I might have missed the first one! I think there's a time and place for both group and solo runs. This co-worker and I run at pretty similar speeds so it works out great when we head out together. But like you said, I definitely push myself harder when I'm alone. The whole disconnecting thing was really such a bonus, though. Ever since I went out once last fall with nothing but an iPod and proceeded to get lost and injured (ugh) I find it impossible to step foot outside without my phone. Unless I have a friend with me! And there's just something so freeing about not caring about time or pace or distance.

I definitely love having access to the water! No beach, but lots of ocean views. And we also have a great river nearby that is always teeming with runners and bikers. Lots of extra motivation to get outside :)
 
It's great that you find someone to run with - I think I get easy scared - so I would want to be with someone - even when I only go for a walk (like in a forest, I'd be ok walking on the beach etc). I used to go to the beach a lot for walking & swimming. I can't wait until we are closer to the ocean. At the moment we are totally landlocked!!

I hope you have a nice weekend!
 
Hello out there!! It is Monday morning, and this is one of my tough weeks... Boyfriend is on nights, so I have to focus on avoiding mindless snacking at night. Yesterday was fine, but that wasn't really an accomplishment. I drank myself stupid on Saturday night and felt like absolute poop all day yesterday :-( It was *bad.* Being sick always stinks, but when you CAUSED that yourself, the guilt and remorse is awful. Boyfriend was preparing our early dinner (lupper?) and I couldn't even function enough to help. Ugggggh.

But anyway... Oh, Hana, you better read this - you know what I ate yesterday?? A crumpet! I've never had a crumpet before. I don't know how authentically British it was, but it was delightful. I wanted a bagel badly but wasn't up for walking to the coffee shop to get one, and I totally forgot I'd bought crumpets the day before. It totally hit the spot!

Exercise yesterday was non-existent. On Saturday I went for a four mile hike in a wildlife preserve. Not very strenuous overall, but four miles is four miles. I saw a little snake and a giant turkey and was so excited. Moreso with the turkey, but the snake was slithering away so I was cool with him, too. I'll try to do a little strength training today at home (I can barely do girl push-ups right now) and then hit up the gym in the morning. It's getting a little warmer in the mornings so I should be able to get back into my pre-work running routine soon. I still like the treadmill for concentrated sessions (intervals, mostly).
 
Awesome job on the four mile hike girl! We have a state park not far from where we live. I'm anxious to check it out really soon!!

BTW, I would have been TERRIFIED by the snack, even if it was slithering away... ICK!!!!! ;)
 
YES!!! CRUMPETTTTTS! Aren't they badass? They are the superheroes of the bakery. I love them. So glad you had one! Much better than a stupid bagel xx
 
Thank you all for your kind words! Munch, definitely check out that state park soon! I love spending time outside exploring new areas. My ideal vacation would be a backpacking trip through the remote woods (which hopefully will happen this summer.) I really REALLY want to see a moose. That is my short-term goal in life :) Oh, and big snakes scare me, but I'm cool with the little guys. I grew up with 6 foot long poisonous creatures slithering around my yard from time to time, so it's all a matter of perspective for me.

Well, I didn't do my strength training on Monday, but I got up early for a run on Tuesday, and today I've got that weight lifting course. Hopefully I like it! I'm not sure what to expect or how many people will be in the class, and I am more than a little anxious about trying something new by myself, but I'm going to do it anyway.

Last week I started reading a book about intuitive eating. It's been an interesting read so far but I'm only into the introductory type stuff. It's basically an anti-diet book - it is supposed to help you learn to focus on your body's physical needs (and desires) rather than eating emotionally or eating according to some one-size-doesn't-fit-all diet plan. I think the book was written with severe chronic dieters in mind but it should still be helpful to me, who just occasionally eats large quantities of snacks and spends more time than I'd prefer analyzing my food choices.

I'm not sure if it's the book's influence or not, but I haven't had any late night sneaky snack attacks this week, and I've had three opportunities. And it wasn't even a struggle, I just took the time to focus in on whether or not I was actually hungry and determined that I was not. Last night I wanted a sugary treat so I had three gummy bears. One.Two.Three. And I didn't neeeed more to take to bed and pour down my throat like I usually do. It was a very satisfying experience.
 
Hey Laura, it's interesting about the book & how you handled your snack cravings. This is similar to one of the most important thing I learned during my juice fast: there is a massive difference between hunger & cravings. So now I just try stop & think to see whether I am hungry or it's all in the head.
I hope you like your new weight lifting class!
 
Well I had my weight lifting class last night. I'm the only one signed up for it, which means they will likely cancel it. But even if that happens, I'm glad I got an hour of one-on-one training in. I did squats, planks, bridges, rows, chest presses, jumping jacks, and lots of other stuff I can't remember! The trainer is going to send me a write-up of what I did tomorrow. My left arm is so sore today that it hurts even when I'm just walking! Everything else is a tiny bit sore, but nothing awful. It's definitely for me interested on doing more strength training, that's for sure.
 
I know what you mean about being outside. It can be incredible calming and invigorating all at once.

That is actually pretty awesome that you got an hour of one-on-one training! :) Sounds pretty productive!
 
I've been slacking on posting here. Let's recap the past few days!

On Thursday I ran my fastest 5k EVER, woo hoo! Just over 29 mins. Beat my previous time by only 6 seconds but I was infinitely more excited by this one. I had only signed up a couple of days earlier because a co-worker was pressured into it and I wanted to do a nice thing and do it with her. Was miserable that day, with tummy problems, and the weather suddenly turned cold and I was underdressed.... Then poor planning on the race organizer's end meant we spent 45 minutes hopping around in the cold before we ran. Basically I just wanted this thing over with. So apparently that's a recipe for an amazing time? I'll take it!

On Friday I did no exercise because I was sore from Thursday night, and then Saturday the boyfriend and I hiked a mountain! Six and a half miles round trip, I forget how long it took us, but it was great. Challenging as usual (I've done this one twice before, he grew up climbing it), but a beautiful day, especially up top. This picture doesn't do it justice but it's the best I've I've got.

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Sunday was another complete rest day. Last night I did 15 minutes of strength training (squats, donkey kicks, rows, planks, girl push-ups, etc) and am planning on a run after work today.

Food has been mostly good, with some poor choices last night spurred by a couple of homemade margaritas. I gave in to some late night sugar cravings which I later regretted. My mind wanted chocolate graham crackers with fluff but my body did NOT. But I've been eating more vegetables than usual the past couple of days, and have been trying to make more nutritious snack choices (less focus on keeping calories low and more focus on fiber and protein). So far so good, I haven't been overly hungry between meals at all!
 
Congratulations on your 5K! Very nice especially in poor conditions. My cousin runs and has has gotten me excited about getting into running. I need to get the weight down some more and start easing into it.
 
Thanks, Hana! Wine at the top was a perfect way to celebrate a job well done :)

Q, running is great, and if you're thinking about getting into racing, I highly recommend it! It's an individual sport with team-like camaraderie (I'll let you guess how long it took me to get that word spelled right). And if you've got people to race with and you're slower than everyone, that just means they are all going to be there to cheer for you when you cross the finish line. Silver linings!
 
Good job on the 5k.

I've just now started doing some jogging for 40 seconds at a time. Cardiovascularly I could do much longer, but while I'm still pushing 260 pounds (and am 41 years old), doing too much running at my weight will likely be bad for my joints. So I've decided to start very slow and slowly build up a little strength in the necessary muscles.
 
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