Vacation and Perspiration

Hello world! After taking a short blogging hiatus, I'm ready to get back into it full swing. The past couple of weeks have been very interesting to say the least. I'll start with honesty and the obvious: I was a bum on vacation. Okay, okay, it's not the worst thing in the world, but I went on that Alaskan cruise thinking I was going to jog every day and hit the ship gym, and well, it just didn't happen. I did pretty well on day two as you can see:
After this day, though, we just got so busy! We made our way into ports that had so many fascinating things to explore. I justified to myself that since we were doing a TON of walking, that would somehow count as working out. And I'm sure it does a little. But after 11 days of not getting to the gym OR doing serious cardio, I was in trouble when I got back. More about that in a minute...

I maintained my weight throughout the vacation, but I'm sure I ate just as much I was burning off by walking and hiking. In Skagway, Scott and I took a train into the mountains where it dropped us off and we did a 5-mile hike through the Alaskan rainforest with an elevation gain of 1,000 ft. This was a serious hike and I would by lying if I said it wasn't difficult. It was SO hard but probably the best workout I got all week (and no, that fanny pack isn't mine...our guides made us wear them):

The Sawtooth Mountain River at the end of the trail:

Trying to avoid another "field of nightmares" scenario:

Back on ship, we also did a Walk for Wishes with our ship captain to benefit the Make A Wish Foundation. This was a 1-mile walk on one of our days at sea but I should have done more:

Diet-wise, I tried to get plenty of Omega-3's:

I only had one day where the IBS (yeah, ew) bothered me, but, hey, one day out of 11 I won't complain!:

And now here I am, a week back from one of the best vacations I have ever been on and it's back to business!! I started back with my trainer Monday and all over again, it felt like he was trying to kill me. That was to be expected. I tried to do a run as well and could only do half of what I was doing before I left. It's amazing what you can lose just by "taking some time off." I can't afford to do that between now and January because it scared the living poo out of me to see how much of a step backwards I had taken.

As the week went on, I felt more energy coming back, and getting back into a routine was the main thing I needed to do.

And today was a huge marker in my workouts because I officially started my scheduled running program to get me through January! My wonderful husband has the next six months of running planned out for me and all I have to do is do them. I'm so thankful to have his expertise because he knows what he's doing when it comes to running! Today I had to start at 3 miles and it wasn't easy, but I did it. I woke up at 5:45 am (yes, on a Saturday, thank you) and started jogging the neighborhood. I was able to jog the 2 miles but had to powerwalk the 3rd. This is okay, because my goal is to finish the Half...whatever it takes to finish, even if that means powerwalking.

Then the day got really interesting...I came in, took a shower, ate breakfast and then the soreness hit...not so much from the run but from the strenuous gym workouts all week long. I took two naps today and got NOTHING done, and I mean nothing. I think I slept from 9:00 am-11:00 am and then again from 1:00 pm-6:00 pm. Are you kidding me?! I NEVER take naps, let alone sleep an entire day away but apparently my body was telling me that's what it needed. It's now 10:00 pm and trust me, I think I'm still going to sleep well tonight!

I feel a little kooky and off-kilter but I guess it's all part of the process. We'll see how the week starts out....more to come soon!

Penny the Horse

Dear Landon,

Thank you for coming over for lunch and playtime the other day. Aunt Laura really needed a pick-me-up because her body still thinks it's on vacation and is having some hard workouts! I'm sorry Penny kept licking your hands and wanting your snacks. She is not used to little kids but I can tell she loves you and tried her best to be gentle. She is a big girl, so I understand why you cried. Penny says no hard feelings, okay?

We Love You!
Aunt Laura & Cousin Penny

And We're Back!!

Back from Alaska, and it was indeed a blast-ka! Stories and pictures coming soon!

Bon Voyage!

Check back in about 9 days for a new post...I'm sure I'll have interesting workout stories to bring back from Alaska!

Good for the Soul

Whew, what a weekend...and a great one at that!

I've made it back to the 2-mile mark, thanks to an EARLY morning run Saturday morning. And yes, I had another encounter with a snake that morning (this time I thought it was a coral but red was touching black, so isn't that "you're okay Jack")? I debated killing it with a stick nearby but I was in a good mood so I let the little b@$tard live.

Then it was time to hit the shower, get purtied up, and drive to Corsicana for a wedding. Matt & Kate are a GORGEOUS couple that I've known for years and they had the most fabulous wedding! Ahhh, I love weddings...they're just good for the soul. I was not the official photographer for their wedding but managed to sneak a few shots from my spot in the pew. Aren't they just exquisite??!
We made it home around midnight last night but managed to hoist ourselves out of bed this morning for church (which I'm glad we did considering we won't be able to go for the next 2 weeks). Then it was on to my parents' house for some sun, swimming, and bbq (we were joined by Landon of course which is always fun). He is now walking all over the place and it makes me a nervous wreck because he wobbles around much like someone who's had a wee too much to drink! Funny stuff.

Landon also got to be the guest of honor and my Pampered Chef show last week. 15 women ooooed and ahhhhed over him and we raised $120 from our purchases to go toward the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation!! A big thank you to everyone who made it possible! We got to cook some delicious food, shop, and use some of Pampered Chef's cute decor...I felt just like Martha Stewart (minus the whole jail thing)!
And now it's time to focus on vacation!! Now THAT is good for the soul! A time to rest, rejuvenate, and yes, continue working out. We'll spend a little time in Seattle and then be off cruising to Alaska! I've planned my workouts accordingly, don't worry...on the days we have shore excursions, we will be doing high-calorie burning activities--hiking and whitewater rafting and walking. Lots and lots of walking. On the days at sea, I plan to wake up, get the cardio over with in the ship gym and then spend the rest of the day sitting on deck with a warm coffee or hot chocolate, a good book, a blankie, and my camera. And maybe a donut. Oops, I meant to say "salad."

Now go out and find the things that are good for your soul!!

Schedules, Snakes, and Ipods

Here's where we are on the workout status and all things half-marathon:

1. I got an email today from the director of the Gulf Coast CF Chapter to inform me that they were accepted as being one of the official charities of the Houston Marathon for the first time this year (they were probably tired of all my pesky emails, but hey, whatever works, right?)! This is great news because for the last 3 months I've been training but haven't known for sure if I will officially be able to fundraise in the Run for a Reason program. Read more about it here: http://www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com/Marathon/Run_for_a_Reason.htm

2. Scott, my I-run-marathons-and-make-it-look-easy husband, has mapped out a schedule for me. Not just any schedule. A training schedule. Up till now it's been all about getting in better shape, getting some pounds off (14.5 thank you very much!) and reducing the amount of weight I will have to carry around when I run. Oh, but now....he started explaining the next 6 months to me last night and I think I blacked out for a moment when he started talking about the weekends this fall and winter that I'll be having to do 9, 10, and 11 mile runs. Good times.

3. As I sit here blogging, covered in sweat, I'm realizing I just had one of the worst workouts ever. A couple of weeks ago I was able to reach the two mile mark on an early, crisp, cool, no-humid morning. This afternoon I had to run in 92 degree humidity with the sun beating down and I just couldn't do it. I tried to zone out and just let the ipod blare while thinking in my head, "shavasna, shavasna." "Shavasna" is an actual thing..I haven't gone looney. I go to a Thursday gentle yoga class and at the end of every class we practice shavasna...where we lay down, completely relaxed from head to toe and focus on the breathing. I've found that if I repeat it in my head, I have better control over my posture and breathing. But that's another story...

Anywho, I go to pass a couple that I thought had stopped on the sidewalk to let me by since they had a big, jumpy dog with them. But because the ipod was blaring and I was zoned out in my own little world, I started to pass them and the guy actually reached out and stopped me with his arm. I was about to whip out some ninja self-defense moves on him but then I looked down and saw it....a snake, about a foot long, with a diamond pattern on it's back and...what was that...a rattle on it's tail?!! I ripped the ipod from my ears and then could hear the warning that made me want curl into a fetal position.

So I said "screw it" and walked the rest of the way home.

These workouts are a lot like life...some days are awesome, some days are awful, some days are alright, and some days it's easy to get caught up in so much other stuff that we can't see what's right in front of us. Deep, I know.