The Weekend Before Christmas

Whew.

I finally get a chance to sit down. Granted, I'm sitting down to blog, the last item on my list of things to do this weekend. It's been a busy one. Which is why you get bullet points. :)

• I attempted to finish my Christmas shopping after work on Friday night. Not very successful. Did manage to pick up a gift for my office gift exchange.
• Saturday it was time for the annual cutout Christmas cookie extravaganza. My mom, two aunts and I get together the weekend before Christmas and make cutout Christmas cookies. Not just a few dozen. Nope. We triple the recipe. Instead of using things like cups of shortening, the recipe See here for photographic evidence of last year's edition.
• I was in charge of the cookie cutters this year. Actually that's usually my job. Although they did make me roll dough for awhile. Something about getting practice for when they no longer can do this.
• It took us 3 hours to mix the ingredients, roll the cookies out, cut them and bake. We ended up with 37 dozen. And in case you're wondering, that's 444 cookies.
• After the cookie extravaganza I headed to the mall. There was Christmas shopping that needed to be finished. And this time I was successful. I've got everyone, except my mom, done. And shopping for my brother? Yeah, that was interesting. Let's just say he's getting the gift receipt, because I'm not sure if what I picked out is what he needs or wants for this hobby he has.
• Then it was home. Time to shower and relax. Yeah, nope. Got to shower and throw the pjs on, but then it was time to make out Christmas cards. Yeah, I'm a little behind. But they're addressed. Just waiting for stamps.
• When I got up today, I needed a bit of non-Christmas related me time. So I headed over to the YMCA. Jumped on a treadmill and ran. At first I wasn't sure how busy the YMCA was going to be, so I set the timer for my allotted 30 minutes. When the time was up, there wasn't anyone waiting for my treadmill, so I kept running. Ended up running 5 miles in 51 minutes, 10 seconds. Felt really good.
• Then it was time to go back home and dive into more Christmas stuff.
• First up? Decorate my share of the 444 cutout cookies. With the TV tuned into the Packer game (seriously Green Bay? You lose to Pittsburgh on the final play of the game?) I sat down at the table and started frosting. I was done and the kitchen was cleaned up by halftime.
• Then it was time to move onto wrapping the gifts. Done.
• Now I need to fold a load of laundry (did I forget to mention I was doing laundry today as well? I'm a multi-tasker, what can I say?) and jump into bed to read a bit before going to sleep.
• It's been a long day. And tomorrow? Should be interesting. It's the last swim class before the next session starts up after the new year and we've got a 900 yard time trial on the schedule. And I'm lugging my running clothes with me to work because I've got the Winter Misery One Miler virtual race penciled in on the calendar. And since there are sidewalks by work, I figured I'd pound out a short run before heading home.
• literally calls for an entire CAN of Crisco. And flour? We need so much, and have so much practice at this, that we don't count cups. We just keep adding until the dough gets to be the right consistency.

Whew. Even though that was bullet points, that was a tiring blog post to write!

Who needs a plan?

The legs were feeling a bit sore today after yesterday's run. That's what happens when I disappear from running for almost a week and a half I guess.

But I still wanted to hit the gym after work. So I planned on grabbing a bike and just riding for about 45 minutes. Armed with my iPod and a book I went to the YMCA and was floored to find that all of the bikes (well all of the bikes that I like, not a fan of the recumbent ones) were taken.

But there was a lonely treadmill. The one I used last night that had the non-functioning TV.

Like I said, I don't like the recumbent bikes. So I decided to jump on the treadmill and do a short run while waiting for a bike. I wasn't planning on going far. Maybe a mile and then doing some walking.

But when I started running? It actually felt good. And I was running at my normal early run pace (about a 10:20 mile). So my mile turned into 2 miles. And by the time I finished 20 minutes and 40 seconds later, the bike I wanted was free.

So I finished off the workout with 25 minutes on the bike and rode 7 miles.

And tonight? The troublesome treadmill TV? Worked perfectly.

No televisions were used during this run

It's been more than a week since I laced up my running shoes.

And I could tell. I jumped on the treadmill for a much needed run tonight. The legs felt like lead and it was just hard to run at first. Eventually I got into a decent groove.

But there were other problems I had to deal with other than lead-like legs.

Normally when I use the treadmill, I can stare at the TV that's attached to it. Watch the pretty pictures. Sure, I could opt to hear the sound too, but I'd rather listen to my tunes. So I just watch the images, read the stuff that's scrolling across the bottom of the screen.

Tonight the TV was malfunctioning. No picture. No sound. Just a blank screen.

So I was left with my tunes (thankfully!), the blank screen and the treadmill display screen. And of course, even though I tried to cover it up with the towel, my eyes were glued to the display screen. I watched every second and hundredth of a mile tick by. And let me tell you, those numbers were not moving quickly tonight.

I almost called it quits after 3 miles. But I kept running and finished my 4.5 miles. Was glad when I got it done, because running on a treadmill to nowhere without the pretty pictures to look at? Painful.

Swimmin' and HBBC Week 3 update

The HBBC Week 3 update will be quick. And kind of painful.

I logged a total of 5 points during the week. Between a snowstorm that spread itself over two days while dumping a foot of snow, work and a general down in the dumps kind of mood, it was hard to log some points. There were a couple of short-ish walks. And I spent some time shoveling (that counts as cardio...lifting heavy snow). But that's it.

I'm off to a better start already this week.

***********

It was the second to last week of swim class this morning. And Coach? He worked us hard. The workout was 2,200 yards. Lots of drills and sets focusing on form. And of course we had to end the hour-long class with 10x50yard sprints with 15 seconds of rest in between. Brutal. Hard. But after a 200 yard cool down? It felt so good.

Next week is our last class and we've got another 900 yard time trial planned. I'm hoping I'll be able to shave a few seconds off my time from the time trial a few weeks ago.

I've really enjoyed the class. I learned a lot and feel that I've improved as a swimmer. There's another session starting up in January that I think I'm going to sign up for (hey I'm finally getting used to the early Monday mornings, I should keep doing it) and then another triathlon training class beginning in April.

With my swim out of the way this morning, I had plans to hit the YMCA after work and sneak in a run. But a throbbing migraine (the kind where lights hurts) made me decide to skip the gym and head home. The run will get done tomorrow.

HBBC Week 2 update

Week two of the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge went a bit better than Week 1, but it still had it's challenges. Mainly, I was working a night shift this week, which normally wouldn't be an issue. But my work schedule had appointments that required me to be at work in the morning as well, sometimes for a couple of hours, leaving me a small window of time that was considered my "break." Not real conducive to working out when you're only free time is an hour or two in the middle of the afternoon and you've got other things to deal with.

Enough excuses though. Hopefully I'll be able to banish the excuses next week.

So the challenge. What'd the week look like? Take a look.

Monday 11/30

1.25 hour swim - 5

Tuesday 12/1

4.5 mile run - 4.5

Wednesday 12/2 through Friday 12/4
too much time spent at work means no bootie busting for me

Saturday 12/5
4.5 mile run - 4.5
6 mile bike - 2
30 minutes abs/weights - 1
misc. cardio (a bunch of dancing at a wedding counts, right?) - 2

Sunday 12/6
took the day off to put up the Christmas tree and give the apartment a super hardcore cleaning

Total points for the week: 19

Not amazing. Not awful. I'll take it given the week I had - and trust me, besides working nights, it was not a good week.

Saturday helped out though. After an early morning wake up call to pick up a friend at the airport, I headed over to the YMCA. I just needed to run. Clear my head. Not think. And the treadmill allowed me to do that. So I pounded out 4.5 miles on the treadmill and headed over to the bikes for a short cool down. Six miles, nice and easy. And then the weights were calling my name. So I headed over for a bit, do some weights, some ab work. It was a good morning at the gym (granted I feel the effects of the weight work today) and got me in the right mindset for my best friend from high school's wedding.

Busting a move on the dance floor totally counts as cardio, right?

November reading recap

Eleven months down and that goal of 40 books by the end of the year? I best start choosing short books if I'm going to reach it.

I did read in November. Finished off four books for a total of 1,000 pages (that's freakishly even). That brings the yearly total to 33 books and 10,931 pages. Which means I've got to finish seven books in the month of December. Hmmm. Holidays. Not many days of vacation. Holiday preparations. Lots of work. Might be tough, but I'll try. And for the record, at the end of November in 2008? The numbers were 41 books and 14,437 pages. Yeah, I'm a bit behind.

But remember, I read in November. Take a look:

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life by Lance Armstrong
Ford Country by John Grisham

So yeah, half of the finished titles were actually re-reads, ones I've read before. But they were good ones. I love Armstrong's story. Very inspiring. And it fit well with it being Thanksgiving time I thought.

When you say Wisconsin...

I interrupt the talk about running, biking and swimming for a moment.

Because my Badgers? They made me a very, very happy girl last night when they knocked off unbeaten Duke during the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

Such a good game. Bo and the boys never trailed. Duke made it a nail biter at the end, but when the Blue Devils threw away that inbounds pass with seconds left? Oh so sweet.

And while it was on their home court, at the Kohl Center with thousands of rabid Badger fans cheering them on, so many people weren't giving Wisconsin a chance. But that Badger win? Not only was it the first time Duke's lost in the history of the challenge, they're now 10-1, it also helped give the Big Ten it's first Big Ten/ACC Challenge title.

After knocking off Duke last night and Maryland, who was ranked when the Badgers beat them last week in Maui, people should start giving the Badgers a bit of credit.

Needless to say I was a very, very happy Badgergirl last night.

Photo credit: Associated Press photo

Not complaining about this December weather

Did I really just flip the calendar over to December today? Because bright sun and temperatures in the mid-40s have me a little confused.

Not that I'm complaining.

Today's original plan was to swing by my office and get stabbed in the arm with my seasonal flu shot and then head over to the YMCA. I rolled out of bed, threw on some gym appropriate clothes, grabbed my gym bag and headed out the door.

The nurse stabbed me with a needle and told me in two weeks (knock on wood) the vaccine should take hold and hopefully I won't have to worry about the seasonal flu. That makes me happy, since I don't function well when I'm sick.

I left the office and was about to head over to the gym when I paused. It was so nice outside. A nice late fall day. This kind of weather? I'm not used to it in December. And with the weatherman predicting snow and cold temperatures for later this week, I'm not sure how many more of these days I'll get.

At that moment, I changed my mind and decided to head back to my apartment and run outside.

Dressed in my running pants, a long-sleeved technical T with a second long-sleeved T layered over the top, I set out. At first my hands were a bit cold, so I was glad I had grabbed my gloves. I wasn't sure how far I was going to run, but I ended up choosing the 3.25-mile route near my apartment.

It's the first time I ran since the Turkey Trot last week and once I got the bit of stiffness out of my legs, the run felt good. So good I decided to add on the extra loop and go for the 4.5-mile run. Like I said the weather was gorgeous for December and being able to run outdoors in the sunlight was relaxing, even if there were huge trucks passing me on one stretch of road.

I probably could have opted for a short-sleeved T instead of the second long-sleeved one and my hands eventually got warm, meaning my gloves came off and turned into something I had to hold. Overall, it was a good run. I'm not sure what Mother Nature has in store for me tomorrow, but if it's half as nice as it was today, I might head outdoors again.