Week 4 Update and TAG

I totally forgot to post last week somehow, but I'm down 5.4 pounds as of today. It's slow going for sure! But, it's still a minus, so that's exciting, right? =)

I have my vo2 test tomorrow morning and will be able to share some of my progress, at least, I'm hoping there's progress!! My heart had better be gettin' better by this point!

I just remembered last week was crazy work week, with ~ 40 out of town visitors for a conference, so I was preoccupied with that. You know, I was VERY SCARY work wendy last week. =)

I'm back to normal and friendly now! Even adventurous! I went skiing with the boys this weekend, and I have only been skiing once before, about 10 years ago, so it was an experience, and my calves and quads haven't quite forgiven me yet. SOOO much fun though!

Next topic, marathon training - I have been SLOWLY training, lots of walking/barely running, to keep my HR low, but yesterday I had 2 hours for my long run, and it was great! Granted, like I said, lots of walking, but I feel good today, and it was nice to stretch my muscles out after all day skiing saturday. (I wasn't sure I'd be moving enough to get a good cardio workout in saturday, so I did an early workout that morning before the skiing - I'll know better for next time! ;-) )

Next topic - TAG. I have to update on FB as well, but Stacie tagged me to come up with some "honest" things about myself. Here's what she posted anyhow:

Here are the rules for this particular award, taken directly from her site:
1. Choose...blah, blah, blah...brilliant in content or design
2. Show the...blah,blah, blah...can keep the nifty icon.
3. List at least 10 honest things about yourself
I am also supposed to pass this award along to some number of other folks who I find blah blah blah brilliant as well.



Here we go:

1.) I love my family, but I honestly couldn't live without my best friend. It's disturbing, I know. But she's my diary!

2.) I'm the dumbest smart person I know - For example, I can effortlessly sit through calculus without even doing the homework and ace the course...but for the last 6 months, I thought I was leaving in April for Atlanta...come to find out it's ALABAMA....??? I'm guessing the A's through me off. ;-)

3.) Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, that I think shows up on my face before I say it. I would never be a good poker player.

4.) I say out loud what I'm thinking far too often. I wish sometimes I had a 2 second time delay on my lips. That would have saved me from lots of embarassing statements or questions.

5.) I really am scary at work. Once I am "off duty", I'm a basket case. I don't even understand me.

6.) I am extremely sensitive about being bad at things people "expect" me to be bad at when they don't even know me. I have no issue being bad at things that I expect me to be bad at though.

7.) I know so little about politics and history that it's embarassing.

8.) One of my very favorite words is "spe-shul"....I think I can be really spe-shul sometimes, but I use the word far more often to describe other people/things. I think it's a tiny bit nicer than some of the other words that come to my mind. =)

9.) I love Jennifer Garner's role on Alias. She's hard core super-spy with girlie girl emotions. MY HERO. I aspire to be her!

10.) I have been told a number of times, way too many to count, that I could bore holes through walls with the "look" (or as Lenny puts it, the "stink eye"...I'm not sure what this look is, as I'm certain I have only angelic looks, but there has to be some truth in the numbers....

So there you have it! 10 truths, VERY SCARY!

I'll try to post about the vo2 test soon! Less than 8 weeks until the final weigh in! Wish me luck!

Have a great week everyone,

~ W

Week 2 Update

Quick update - Okay, after the long weekend in the city, which was a very relaxing, fun weekend, I tried to make some wise choices as far as food goes. I got in workouts Tues-Friday, and maybe walking around the city counts for a little bit over the weekend? =)

I weighed in this morning down 1.8 pounds. I'm very happy with that, considering I was on a "modified" plan for the weekend. And, as long as I get ~ 2 pounds a week, I'm happy with that too!

This may be my shortest post to date, but I need to get ready for the week, and it's already ater my bedtime! =) Many blessings to you all this week, and thanks for reading!

week 1

I was down exactly 2.0 pounds on Monday morning. 10% there! Woo hoo! I'm right on track!

The good part is that the first week went by pretty easy. Also good - I worked out 5 of 7 days.

The bad part is today (Thursday) is a real challenge - I've felt hungry all day long, and nothing seems to be satisfying my hunger. I decided I better post something now and get encouragement! I also am headed into a long weekend, and I'll be out of town, so eating out will present its own challenges. Also, my challenge partner is ahead of me by 0.2% right now, so I really need to stay focused on the goal!

So far this week, I worked out Tues-Wed and today, so I'm on track for another good week of cardio.

How's everyone else doing so far this year??

funny

I'm getting great feedback on the challenge, thank you for your encouragement! So far so good! I haven't cheated yet, and it hasn't been horrible yet. =)


I received this forward today, which had me cracking up laughing. It reminded me of something Stacy would say:

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN GUILTY OF LOOKING AT OTHERS YOUR OWN AGE AND THINKING, SURELY I CAN'T LOOK THAT OLD. WELL.... YOU'LL LOVE THIS ONE.

MY NAME IS ALICE SMITH AND I WAS SITTING IN THE WAITING ROOM FOR MY FIRST APPOINTMENT WITH A NEW DENTIST. I NOTICED HIS DDS DIPLOMA, WHICH BORE HIS FULL NAME.

SUDDENLY, I REMEMBERED A TALL, HANDSOME, DARK-HAIRED BOY WITH THE SAME NAME HAD BEEN IN MY HIGH SCHOOL CLASS SOME 30-ODD YEARS AGO.

COULD HE BE THE SAME GUY THAT I HAD A SECRET CRUSH ON, WAY BACK THEN?

UPON SEEING HIM, HOWEVER, I QUICKLY DISCARDED ANY SUCH THOUGHT.

THIS BALDING, GRAY-HAIRED MAN WITH THE DEEPLY LINED FACE WAS WAY TOO OLD TO HAVE BEEN MY CLASSMATE. AFTER HE EXAMINED MY TEETH, I ASKED HIM IF HE HAD ATTENDED MORGAN PARK HIGH SCHOOL 'YES. YES, I DID. I'M A MUSTANG,' HE GLEAMED WITH PRIDE.

'WHEN DID YOU GRADUATE?' I ASKED.

HE ANSWERED , 'IN 1975. WHY DO YOU ASK?'

'YOU WERE IN MY CLASS!', I EXCLAIMED.

HE LOOKED AT ME CLOSELY.

THEN, THAT UGLY, OLD, BALD, WRINKLED, FAT ASS, GRAY-HAIRED, DECREPIT SON-OF-A-BITCH ASKED,'WHAT DID YOU TEACH ???'

New Year's Resolutions

Wellll, after some prompting for an update from Michelle, I thought I might as well put it out there for everyone to know...today started the first day of a tiny contest I'm participating in. It's a biggest loser challenge. Just me and a co-worker, who I've decided might be the meanest person I know.

Sooo, here's the scoop. I was super excited because on my end of the wager, I came up with a darn good prize. I win, he has to carry all my crap while running the rock 'n roll marathon in June. He came up with his terms this morning. It's horrifying.

He wins, no talking to tammy for a week. Now, while this may not sound like a difficult challenge, try to keep in mind that I talk to tammy 5-6 times a day, for maybe 2.5 hours a day, and over email, oh, and sometimes text messages. I mean, for goodness sakes, we have our own personal phones for each other (yeah, I know, I carry 2 cell phones everywhere! One for Tammy, and one for pretty much everyone else)....soooo, really, tammy is like my diary. BRUTAL. So at first, I was mortified, then a little upset, and now I'm just determined.

My goal was to lose 10%, but now I've reassessed and am thinking at least 12%. The challenge ends March 27.

I'm going to try very hard to post weekly updates on my progress! Please wish me luck, this is a MUST WIN, REFUSE TO LOSE kind of contest.

Happy New Year to all my favorite bloggers, and just think, only one more week (okay, maybe 2) until my favorite treadmill isn't being hogged up from the overcrowding this week!

Along Came a Spider

I know it's been too long since I've posted, but I've been on hiatus for a bit. I figured it's probably time to go over the many events of the last several weeks, and try and catch up with everyone's blogs now.

Have you ever heard about bad things coming in three's? I'm hoping so! I should be in the clear then!!

You see, my troubles started several weeks ago. I was on duty (Reserve duty) and walking out a door that locks behind you. I had several papers in my hands, but as I was about three steps out the door, I caught sight of a single spider strand, nearly eye level. I froze. Those of you who know me KNOW that I have no fear of M-16s, no fear of deploying to the desert, and no fear of speaking into a microphone in front of millions of people....those danged spiders though....I can't think about it too long, there will be snot crying involved. Back to my strand...

I froze, and followed the shiny line, sloping downward to my left. To my absolute horror, there it was. On my leg. I freaked out. Papers went everyone, and then to an even bigger horror, I lost sight of the spider. I know this seems unreasonable, but the deeply rooted fear of spiders, and now not knowing where exactly it was, left me Hysterical. Of course, I turned around immediately, and couldn't get back in the door, leaving only the option of going forward. I ran across the path, into my own building.

Now, if I could describe to you my position in the military, I'm like the commander's right hand. I'm an Air Force first sergeant. It's super cool. It also means that I'm the MODEL for the enlisted force. This unreasonable fear was now on full display for the folks in the building I ran into. AWESOME. In my hysteria, I tried to relay that I needed to make SURE there was no spider on me. The poor captain I ran into first tried to understand, and she started looking at my uniform (guess what, camouflage works!) and she shouts, WAIT! Of course, I freak out again. This is horrible. I'm truly snot crying at this point. We finally determine there is no spider on me. An hour later, my boss comes into the office, and although I'm no longer snot-crying, my face is puffy and my eyes are still red. Yeah, an hour later...yikes! I was supposed to go out to dinner for my anniversary that night. I was too exhausted to go. In fact, I accidentally ran through a red light that day, apparently, at least, I paid for a ticket with a picture showing I did that. Oops!

Now, onto troublesome item number 2. I promise no graphic details. I had a routine (annual) girly doctor appointment. Let me assure you there are no problems, nor have there ever been problems. I had a new doctor, which is okay, I've had different doctors often throughout my military career, so that's okay. This was the worst appointment I've ever had. Besides the physical pain I had for 4+ days, the emotional trauma was significant as well. Again, no graphic details, but the worst appointment I've ever had by any health care provider. I wrote up a 2-page complaint outlining my concerns over how the appointment was handled, and that is finally being submitted to the chief clinician for review. After researching, I have discovered many patients who have experienced similiar appointments, so I hope this gets corrected immediately.

My final piece of the puzzle has to do with poor timing. I turned down a really good opportunity in order to take my offer with that Microsoft Partner. I left my full time Reserve duty orders September 30 and headed out shortly after to visit Tammy. (By the way, the tammy update is she did not qualify for boston, but is in better spirits at this point. In her words, "my ego is hurt, so I need to take baby steps"...she ran a sub-20 5K this weekend, so I think she's doing pretty well now!) The day before I left, I got an email from the President saying they were in a hiring freeze and had to retract the offer. BUMMER. So, I spent last month lining up a new opportunity, and today I started working at the RODEO office at McChord. Again, this is a contract position, which means, I'm on military orders full time until 30 September. So, I have some time to find a new offer, or wait for my Microsoft one to clear up. My orders were approved on Halloween, making it one of my best birthday presents. I'm so thankful for my Reserve unit for finding a way to make this happen quickly!

Well, that's the drama over the past 2 months, and I'm ready to divorce it for sure. =) I haven't been running at all but have gotten in lots of walking. I can walk at a pretty good clip for 45 minutes now with my HR < 140, and actually the first 25-30 minutes is usually at 125, so I'm happy with that. I'm getting ready to start running again though. I did sign up for the rock 'n roll marathon. I'm ready to put the past WAY behind me and move on. **Another tammy update, she's considering flying out for the rock 'n roll marathon, but only if "hot" guy runs along with us. I have assured her I will be running a nice easy pace, so if any of my running club buddies wants to walk alongside me while I'm running, they are all more than welcome.** The jury is still out on who "hot" runner is - tammy's not so good with names, but she's assured me she knows who eric is, so my guess is it's still not you, eric. sorry! =)

Please forgive me for being remiss in reading/commenting. I plan to catch up this weekend. I'm thankful for the many friends who have dropped me a message to check in and see how things are going!

Blessings to you all,

W

Leaving the comfort zone

Sooo, I finally got the offer I've been waiting for, and I accepted. YAY! I'm talking with the Pres tomorrow to see if I can start October 20. My active-duty military obligation ends September 30, and I'll probably work a few days to get the new guy up to speed. Then I have a visit to Tammy in Chicago to watch her BQ. Then I'll have some time off to get started.

I'm kind of sad leaving active duty behind...it seems scary to get out into the real world and all. I'll still be a Reservist, so I definitely still have military ties and all, but now, not every single day.

In between everything, I'm managing to consistently get in ~15 miles a week. I think I've got tammy talked into visiting in June, but she wants to do a double marathon weekend while she's out here to earn Maniac status. Oh, and I think she may have mentioned that I should run with her.

Well, first of all, she'd have to run with me, because I do not forsee 8 minute miles in my future. Second of all, I've sworn off marathons, but I might be tempted into a do-over if I found the right event. Thoughts? Thoughts?

Oh, and she may also have mentioned that she'd like the "hot" guy from the Y-Run club to run with us. I'll leave it to you to decide who that might be. =) Sorry Eric, it's not you.

Of course, I'm happy to stick with halves, so if there's a double marathon weekend that also includes halves, that's a good plan for me too. ;-) I'll leave the crazy double marathon crap to Tammy and the hot guy.