Day Nine: What Am I, An Old Lady?

So I'm sure you remember me saying that I was beginning a painting job on Monday. Well, I can sure tell that I have spent the last year "unemployed". I am not going to complain and say that it is tough... but... I really want to. Ha! First off, let me just ask all of the high-jean wearing mama's out there a question:

How do you go, day after day, wearing those horrible mom-jeans? I am pretty positive I have a rug-burn like circle on my UPPER stomach from the denim wearing against my skin. Pants are not meant to be worn that high. Not to mention the fact that, I've come to the conclusion that the jeans are to blame for some of your self-esteem issues. You get down on yourselves because you may have a hard time bending over to grab something or tie your shoes, all the while assuming that you are a)getting old, or b) getting fat when in reality it's the damn jeans cutting into your abdomen, causing you to be unable to bend as much as you probably could.

I think about this, nearly every time I have to bend down to paint the bottom of the door frame. My heart goes out to all of you. If you have any pointers for how to make the experience less horrific please let me know.

Anyways, yes, painting is a lot of work. But having said that, I am realizing that it is also a great leg workout. There is a lot of squating involved, and stepping up and down off of the step stool. I like to tell myself I am doing what the cool CrossFit girls do when they step up and down off of their big box things. But lucky for them they don't have to do it in pants that go up just under their "girls". So I'd say I just might be working harder than they are. Yeah, right. So my thighs are really sore, therefore I am making sure to stretch like a crazy person these days. It's definitely helping, Lord knows what I would be like if I weren't stretching every 10 seconds. But I am still sore. I almost don't like sitting down because I know as soon as I do that part of my body is going to start to ache.

So let me just interject here and say, in my defense, I am sore from painting AND running... I'm not THAT much of a pansy.

Anyways, I am trying to get my mom to stretch, because she is painting with me, and knowing her, she will wake up the next day and be oh so sore. I had to remind her three times yesterday to stretch. Do you think she did? Nope. I scolded her this morning. But tonight, as our soup bubbled on the stove, we proceeded to stretch on the kitchen floor. I am quite proud of her for taking nearly twenty minutes to stretch with me! We used chairs, a towel, stools... we were doing the darn thing. It might just be us, but have any of you ever noticed that you could probably stretch further if your belly weren't in the way? Yeah, I'm blaming the belly. So our stretching session ended with my mom sprawled out on the floor of the hallway, and I felt successful. I won't mention how many different "poses" it took to get her on the floor. It was almost a whole sun salutation just to get her down there. Mom, if you by chance read this, I'm sorry... don't be embarrassed!

Anyways, on to the running part.

Tonight I ran my longest distance to date. 3.5 miles. I understand that this is just slightly over a 5k, but I've always run on a treadmill, so when I hit that 3.2 mile mark, I am D-O-N-E. So running that far felt great. I sort of might have been beaming or something, because I was so proud of myself. The only problem was that at around 2.5 miles I got a pretty rad cramp in my right toes. I tried to just keep going, but eventually I had to stop, take my shoe off, and stretch my toes real good. I'm not sure what that was about, because my shoes were not too tight, and they are still in pretty good shape. And, of course, it happened on a moderately busy street, so I made sure to really stretch it like a pro. I didn't want people to think I was lame and had to stop on the side of the road. But how do you not look lame when you are standing on the side of the road with a shoe on your left foot and an orange and black tye-dyed sock on your right? Maybe I should rethink my sock choice next time.

Time to let these poor old lady muscles rest up and get all kinds of tight before I wake up tomorrow. Too bad you can't sleep stretch. That'd work out pretty well for me right about now.


Peace, love and old ladies who rock ugly jeans

P is for Peace. and Pants. and Push-Ups.

Today was my "strength training" day, and I am proud to say I actually did some strength training, without any wandering around the gym involved. Score! Probably because I just stayed in the yoga room, pretty much by myself... but still, I did some pretty moderately hardcore stuff. Prior to going to the gym I was having a conversation with a friend who has had some amazing successes in changing her lifestyle and her health by becoming more active. I came away with a lot of encouragement and conviction through our time and I am excited to move forward.

Here are some things I learned today...

# One) As you all know, I usually sign off with "Peace, love  & compression bras", and today I thought a lot about peace. As a woman, I am not sure that I will ever meet the goals I set for myself if I do no learn how to have peace with what I currently have. Peace is a pretty rad thing, if you really think about it. There is personal peace, which I am sure we all hope for for ourselves and those we love. Being able to look in the mirror, despite everything and know that deep down, you not only accept what you see but you have peace about it, knowing that who you are is always changing. Then there is what we will refer to as "outward" peace. This, people, is something I have learned that quite a few individuals lack. As human beings, we have the right to affect others around us by the way we present ourselves, the way we carry ourselves, and the way we communicate to others around us. This can refer to the way we dress or simply the greeting (or lack there of) that we give to others as we pass by. I am ridiculously sad to say that I have seen and heard of people who have taken it upon themselves to disrupt others' peace about themselves by sharing their opinion about what they think of them. Does that make sense? Ok, so here's a scenario (that is completely made up, but represents what I'm dealing with here): Sally is your average woman, exercising on the elliptical at an average pace, when June hops on the machine next to her. Sally has just started working out, and has finally gotten herself to a place where she is confident enough to workout at the gym. Sally is pushing herself, and really working hard. Meanwhile, June is striding at the speed of lightening on the machine next to her. June, who has been exercising since she was in sports as a child, is very impressive in her capabilities, from an athletic standpoint. As Sally finishes up and is wiping her machine off, June leans over and says to her, "Guess you'd better stick to the couch, huh? You seem to really have a hard time with that. Thats too bad." and then puts her earphone back in and keeps striding away. Now let's be honest. Was it necessary for June to disrupt Sally's new found peace with herself just to tell her that? Not one bit. I mean, come on June! Just because it comes easily to you doesn't mean it should be a make it or break it situation for others. June, you had a chance to build Sally's personal peace by giving her a smile or chatting with her while you both "ellip-ed". What is it that stops us from encouraging one another while we are all working so hard towards the same goal? I ask this question because I had a chance to do that today and I didn't take it. There was another gal in the room with me, who was working really hard and seemed very nice. I could easily have said hello, and shared some exercises with her. Instead, I kept my "peace" to myself and opted for some Metro Station on my ipod. "L" is for Laura and LAME. And Lesson #1

# two) You really need to wear the right pants when you go to the gym. Man, have I failed at this far too many times. You'd think I would get the idea, but alas, I have not. I have a drawer (and a big one at that) F-U-L-L of "workout" clothes, and I think I have one single "bottom" with the proper functionality that I need to get the dern job done. What's the deal? Well the deal is, when I'm running, don't look when I relieve the bunch of shorts that has built up between my legs (stupid thighs). When I'm doing crunches on the BOSU, don't mind that with every crunch, a slight wedgie begins to form and I have to pause every 7 or so crunches, just in time to prevent an embarrassing situation. AND (my biggest pet peeeeeeeeeve) things such as "Chami Butter" (or other sorts of friction preventers) are unbelievably necessary when I'm running or walking long distances in shorts. Ouch.

# three) I suck at push-ups. It's just that simple. You would think, that after six months of continually doing push-ups and hovers and other chest/arm/back exercises that I would be able to pump out more than 15 girl push-ups. Well, I can't. Ok! Don't judge me. And yes, I still can't do more than two real push-ups. Geez. I guess "P" is also for pansy.

So remember, you ain't never gonna get that booty you desire, or get rid of that juice pouch until you bring a little peace into the mix. And while you're at it, help a sister or brother out and give them some props... you're both working towards the same thing anyways.

And please, please get the right kind of pants. I'm telling you... it's worth it.

PEACE, love & compression bras