Up All Morning

It's 9:24am. So far today I have done the following:

1. Ran 2 miles
2. Done abs and chest
3. Walked the dogs
4. Not only showered but actually PUT ON MAKEUP
5. Made coffee
6. Made scrambled egg whites, fried turkey and healthy breakfast loaf for breakfast.
7. Watched an episode of 3rd Rock From The Sun
8. Sat down to begin homework

PHEW! That is more than I sometimes do in an entire day. Ok, so I'm not super proud to admit that, but it's a fact... can't deny it now. Another thing I can't deny...

How wonderful it feels to actually get up and get my run in before the sun comes up. Wow does that ever feel awesome! And holy crap is it cold in the morning! I definitely wasn't ready for how chilly it was, but fortunately my internal heater kicked in after about a quarter of a mile. All thanks goes to Melissa for asking me to run with her before she went into work today. I think that I might end up doing this more and more because it really truly does feel great. More than anything, my sense of accomplishment feels the best.

So an update to my Insanity endeavor from last week. It took 5 days for my calves to get back to fully functioning condition. Maybe that was more so due to the 3 miles I ran afterwards, but still. That sort of put a damper on doing insanity the days following. T was talking to his friends at work about how I made him feel lame (or lazy or something to that effect) because I went and ran afterwards. Ha! It felt great to hear that! I've never been "hardcore" before, and any sliver of that feeling I can get I get pretty stoked about. Then yesterday I asked him if he wanted to do Insanity with me, and he said he wasn't feeling up to it, so I went into the guest room and rocked out another sesh. Mind you, when I say "rocked out" that includes a lot of laying on the floor for the 30 second break, a lot of head between the knees and a LOT of vocal expression of strain and frustration. I felt hardcore again. Not because I did awesome at Insanity, but because I was actually the one choosing to workout. In all of my 26 years of existance, this has RARELY happened. Maybe even never. So thank you, husband, for allowing me to feel pretty hardcore for a little second.

One of the things that Shaun T (haha, what a name, huh?) asks the others in the video is if they can feel their body changing. Ok, so he doesn't ask it. He yells it. Over. and over. and over. And to him they scream, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" So, as I was dying I was telling myself, scrunched face and all, that my body is changing. And I guess I want to challenge you to do the same. When you are exercising, even if it's walking, or running, or lifting... whatever it is, tell yourself over and over, when the pain is awful and you just want to QUIT, "MY BODY'S CHANGING! MY BODY'S CHANGING!" I guarantee that you will find the will and the strength to kick your own ass into gear and finish strong. Because no matter your level of fitness, when you are overcoming your own personal limits, you are changing your body. You might not see it. You might feel like death. The truth is that your body is in the process of becoming better than it was before you started. How incredible of a truth!

Here comes my reality: I have always struggled with the same insecurities. Every day. For as long as I can remember. No matter how my hair has changed, my size has changed, my skin has changed, it has never been change enough. As I have begun to change my life over these last several months, I have not experienced huge change in my appearance or in the areas that I am most insecure. So, just yesterday I had to remind myself that it is possible for those things to change. I need to stick with it, because that, dear Laura, is the one thing you have never seen through. You've done it for a short while and then called it quits because the change wasn't there. The difference between then and now is that I am changing mentally. I am changing emotionally. I am growing stronger in my pride. I could've floated around my house this morning because I was so proud of myself. When in my life have I been so proud of myself for accomplishing a physical activity? Rarely. So, maybe my outsides aren't changing... yet. But my body is changing. My mind is a part of my body, and boy let me tell you, it's changing alright!

So go! Change your body! Do it because you can!


Peace (with yourself), love (for yourself) & welcome change (in yourself)

It's INSANE...

... how long it has been since I've posted. I could say, "Oh but I've been working out still, so don't you worry.." but let's be honest, we all know that would be quite a stretch. I have been working out, just not as regularly as I once was. Last week began my first ever HALF MARATHON training program! *loud roars from the stands* I wrote it all out, week by week, complete with an inspirational quote on the bottom (of which I will rarely read). I truly do find inspiration from a quote on a fortune cookie I got at the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon expo. It said "Good things come slow- especially in distance running". So basically, this man has given me a reason to be ok with my slow, lazy pace. Works for me!

Another reason why blogging has been sparce is that I have been preparing for and living through the homecoming of my beloved other half. He is officially home from his tour, and I couldn't be happier! So now we are doing what we can to get back to "life as we know it", although we have never spent a solid year together in the same place... so I guess we don't even know what that "life" is supposed to look like. I don't know about him, but I'm quite excited to find out!

Today we began our Insanity program. It was tough... and by tough I basically mean insane. Yep, there's a reason why they call it that, folks. But the thing is, it's not me who is the insane one... it's all the freaks on the video! They are so dang motivated, ripped and all around tough SOB's! While they were still "going strong", I was sitting on my knees with my head on the floor, practically between my legs. Maybe that was in effort to not barf all over... or maybe it was in order to regain my ability to breath in semi long breaths. Either way, I am not even close to being "Insane", but I'd like to say that I tried. So tomorrow we will continue on schedule.

But maybe I'm a little more insane than my husband because today, after sweating my boot-ay off with some of that insanity, I bundled up and went for my Tuesday 3 mile run. Yep, you read that correctly. I did 45 minutes of at home plyometric cardio and then I went and RAN THREE MILES!

BE IMPRESSED!!! 

It felt AWE-SOME! I ran around our neighborhood, which can be mildly sketchy, so maybe that put a little speed in my step. Rest assured, I carried my mace with me. Thanks to my sister, I don't think I'll run without it. LISTEN UP LADIES: If you're going to run outside, BRING MACE or something to defend yourself with. I have learned from a reliable source, that pervy pervs prey on runners. Don't be stupid just because it might be an inconvenience. Just do it, ok? You can get really cheap mace at sporting goods store. I got mine at Academy Sports.

Anyways, my calves are OUT OF CONTROL right now. Way, way sore. It's pretty great!

Tomorrow is insanity and a two mile run. I'm gonna git 'er done.



Peace, love and husbands

Always A Spud?

Having taken two weeks from running, I am extremely frustrated to say that I am still experiencing pain in my ankles and knees. It is very disheartening.  I do, however, toy with the fact that I shouldn't be hard on myself. If there is anything I've learned from talking with others who have tried to change their lifestyles through diet or exercise, it has been the affects of too high of expectations and not being able to give yourself credit for what you have done. I was talking with my grandma yesterday, trying to encourage her in a new adventure she is about to embark on, and I told her that no matter what, she needs to be proud of herself. For the little victories. For taking it one day at a time. And basically I need to practice what I preech.
So having said that, I am, unfortunately, not going to be running in my 10-mile race, in order to take care as to not permanently injure myself. I know (at least I tell myself this) that I cannot possibly be the only one who is building a collection of shirts and gear from races she has not been able to run... right?

In other news, my manly man will be gracing me with his presence in the very near future! And with that comes some Insanity. I mean, it very well may be insane in multiple ways, but more specifically, the Man and I will begina 60 day Insanity challenge. He told me the other day that he gave one of the workouts a try, and that... well... I don't think he really actually said much after that. He just breathed a few heavy breaths which communicated to me that there is a pretty good chance that I miiiight die one of the first few days. Welcome home honey! Let's go kill ourselves! Yep, we're pretty crazy.I'm excited! And I think it will be great for my legs and ankles to take a bit of a break from the same stress day after day. When we start, I will let you know our beginning "Specs" and our ending ones. T says that if we aren't ripped by the end of this then it will never happen. So at least I will be able to set my mind at ease knowing that I will just never be ripped. But I have a feeling we'll be looking pretty fly by the end of this.

I haven't been very good at keeping up with my spudly efforts. As of late the only thing my arms have lifted is a paint brush and a roller. That is all about to change.... I guess I'd better go enjoy my last couple of weeks on the couch.


Peace, love and insane husbands and wives

Back To Life, Back To Reality

Well people, here I am... back home and ready to go. The only problem is that my husband is not quite as ready to go as I am... We got back into town yesterday, so naturally I was ready to get back into the swing of things with Tuesday night Spin Class at Abrams. I thought that me and the hub had communicated that Spin class was taking place today AND tomorrow. Well, I guess there was some confusion. "So what?" you might say... "Just go anyways". Well here's the thing... I'm trying to make up for seven months without him, so to leave him for only an hour is terribly hard. I had to go to the grocery store yesterday and that was definitely not as fun as it could have been had he been with me... simply because he could be. So yes, I am caving in... I'm not going to spin class, and I am probably going to end up eating instead. Dang. Any and all of you Army spouses know what I am talking about. It's quite difficult to let them out of your sight unless absolutely necessary (we're talking bathroom breaks here, people... thats it).
I will say, that during my three week vacation I managed to work out an amount of times that can only be counted on one hand. Shame on me. I started out well, though! The first day of my vacation to the lake my sister and I went for a run. It felt good to run up north, where you can actually breath because the temperature is at a normal number for human lungs. Because of all of our activities (of which are SO different than my day to day life) I found myself being the first to bed every night, and far too tired to go out and do more activities. Am I making excuses? Possibly. Am I not as much of an athlete as I thought? Yes, this is true. I will say that I am quite anxious to get back on the horse and keep up with my efforts to become a stud. I have also picked up some useful information regarding diet, of which I intend to put forth full effort in changing in our lives as a family. Let me just say, it is terribly hard to have a good understanding of the do's and don'ts of "eating healthy". Namely, all of the "diet" foods that are offered. Low fat breads, cheeses, crackers, meats, drinks... all of it is actually doing the opposite of what you want it to do. So I'm trying to lean more in the direction of "sugar free". You should give it a try, too!

Alright, well my honey's off trying to make dinner so I'm going to go help him. I'll be sure to give you a detailed description of my hellish spin experience tomorrow!

Peace, love & lazy feeling lovebirds