ouch.

Ouch.

Hurt.

Pain.

My first bike crash.

The bruise on my hip is the size of a grapefruit. The scrape on my shoulder is the size of my feet. There are other bruises and scrapes on my knees and elbows. My head and neck muscles hurt.

It just hurts so. damn. much.

And to be honest, I haven't done any workout since I crashed Saturday. I'm waiting for some kind of scab or SOMETHING before I try and struggle into a sports bra ... but the lack of movement is driving. me. CRAZY!

hmmm a 5k?

Well, I have my eye on a 5k that's exactly a month away. It's a high school fundraiser at my all-time-favorite-place-to-run: the quary.

Of course, I don't get my inserts for another 3 weeks, and that gives me only a week to prepare. That's not very smart... Although the doctor said I would be able to build up to running again ... slowly ....

Unless...

I really commit to loads of cross training. Meaning: biking, water running, strength and core, and lots of stretching. It also means eating well, shedding these last few pounds, and really making a go of it.

I wont actually decide, of course, until I get my inserts.

And really, just running again will be enough for me.

But still. I miss it so damn much! And having a goal!

And, in my heart, I know that I might be setting myself up for diappointment. I really should look for a mid-September 5k. :-(

my goal

Vacation was awesome. I loved it. But now, the crappy eating and low exercise continues ...

Which is why it's time to have a plan.

Here's my plan. It keeps me to a 1,700-2,000 calorie diet, and I should never truely get hungry because I'm snacking thrice! Of course, the smaller meals will be tricky. But that's okay.

Breakfast: 400; Snack: 100-200; Lunch: 500; Snack: 100-200; Dinner 500; Treat: 100-200.

And my exercise goal: 30 minutes of cardio four times a week, 20 minutes of strength training twice a week.

I also have my eye on a late August 5K. I'm really hoping to be running pain free by then!

vaca

Tonight I'm heading to Ely to hang out at my grandpa's cabin with D and my family.

I love the cabin. I love how peaceful it is, how you can be active and relaxed and explore the lake and just have fun.

I'm a little nervous about D and my dad butting heads, though. In four days, it's easy to get on eachotherse nerves.

Well, here's my goals -- have fun, be active, relax, re-energize, and eat healthy and normally

ouch.

Ouch!

I took a major spill on the bike today. But I learned an important lesson.

I can't bike and talk on the cell at the same time.

And, later, another important lesson.

Never trust a vehicle to see you.

This punck ass kid in a truck nearly ran straight into me! Damn!

biking to work

Well, today's the big day ... to bike to work. And then to the gym.

I was tossing and turning all night? Why am I so nervous about this?

(Ahem, maybe because my boss didn't seem very supportive, almost to being unsupportive. Yet I've SEEN him bike to work. And I'm only asking to do so maybe once a week, on days I don't have any external meetings planned and the only thing on my plate is writing and phoning).

On another aside, I found Dear Abby's column today interesting. It's about spouses that derail weightloss efforts. Or they take the opposite approach -- the spouse looses while the other gains. I've seen both in my family.

And, although I don't think he's trying to derail me (we have gone running and biking together, and taken walks, and eat at the co-op) I have caught myself thinking that it was easier to maintain/loose/get my but to the gym/go exercise whe D was deployed.

Which isn't such a horrible thing to say as it may seem. Take, for instance, my time during the deployment -- it was completely mine. And I filled it with working out and eating right. No bbq's after work, or bar runs, or just hanging out and watching movies.

Couple that with my foot injury (which happened since he got home) and there you go. I have been exercising less. And it's not that he's unsupportive -- it's that I can't run (grr!) and because I've loss my favorite activity, I don't substitute the others (swimming, biking, etc).

Not today.

Today I bike to work (15 minutes each way) and do the eliptical for 30 minutes and then do some ab work, maybe even my strength routine.

Then I pack! For vaca! Yay!

Tomorrow I'm also getting up and going to the gym to do the eliptical for 30 minutes.

biking to work

Excited news -- I got the okay to bike to work about one day a week.

That's all I get, though. My newspaper job means I need my car to drive around and interview people. It keeps my on my toes (and burning gas) about 4 days a week. The fifth day, though, I usually spend writing or interviewing on the phone.

But it's still victory! One day!

I'm excited. And nervous. One of my bike coworking veterans gave me tons of advice. And she even things we shoot pitch a bike blog to the editor! :-)

this morning

I set my alarm and got up at 6 a.m. this morning.

I got up, walked around, looked at my pile or work out close on the floor and thought, should I go to the gym or get back into bed?

I calculated how much more time I could sleep and still get to work on time. I thought of going into work early to get my mountains of work done. I thought of all the other effective ways I could use that time.

And then I thought, no. I need to go to the gym. I need to go for me.

For the last month or so -- basically since I've stopped running because of this nagging foot injury -- I have lost that sense of myself that comes with working out. I've felt less healthy, less balanced, less well. Not to mention a little pudgier and out of breathe.

And so, at 6 a.m. this morning, I put my workout clothes on and went to the gym. 30 minutes of eliptical (and one semi-sore foot) later, I feel better about myself.

I'm actually glad I went.

And I'm thinking about doing it all again tomorrow.

thrice in a day

Well, I ran and biked yesterday. And did my new strength training routine. Just not at the same time.

I drove to the quarry and ran with a few walking moments about 20 minutes. The outside of my right foot hurt after 5 minutes. I didn't push it but there was a moment where I just felt good. My legs were stretching out, the sun was beating down and it was a cool 75 degrees still.

And then, bam. I was out of energy. It sure leaves quicker than it takes to build it.

But then I did strength training, which I'm feeling this morning. So I feel good about that.

And then I road my bike to Derek's new house, then road it with him to dinner and back, then back to my house. Overall it was 10.5 miles, or about an hour. Pretty good.

And to top it all -- I'm back to 128 pounds (it looks like 127.5 but really, whose counting?)

tomorrow's goals.

My new goal -- exercise in the morning.

This whole night thing just isn't working out. There's just too much lets-go-to-the-river-and-play-with-the-pups distractions that I jump at the chance at. And why not? This state is only this warm for another 90-or-so days.

So tomorrow I will do what I have thought about for a long time.

I will ride my bike to the quarry (15 minutes).
I will stretch.
I will run, slowly, about 20 minutes.
I will ride by bike home.

I will. Even if it means walking a bit. I will.

And I'll do it all before work. (Luckily I have a late shift tomorrow)

friday

One more day until the weekend. I tell ya, this whole national holiday thing in the fricken' middle of the week is killing me.

My goal today: Eat healthy. I didn't eat exactly healthy yesterday. It seems to be a trend.

My other goal: Bike for an hour. At the quarry. After work and before dinner.

Awesome.

a sign?

On my way to the gym today to do my 30 minutes of eliptical work, I unknowingly turned the wrong way and drove half way to the quarry and all their glorious trails before I realized where I was going and I turned around.

I think my subconcious is trying to tell me something.

my goal

30 minutes of eliptical and 30 minutes of strength. It felt good, it feels good to be done. My foot is a bit sore, though. Makes me think I should hold off on the running.

I'm glad I started doing strength though. My goal is twice a week through the end of the month, then three times a week.

My motivation now is to be in good shape -- better shape, if possible! -- for when I do get back to running.

And, surprisingly, it's a pretty motivating goal.

day after the 4th

Well, D and I had a falling out, then a conversation, then, I think, an understanding.

Deployments are so damn hard! Even when they're over, they're not over ...

On another note.

I helped him move all day yesterday (does that count as cross training?) and am going to the gym to do the eliptical shortly.

My feet are feeling much better. I'm contemplating a run this weekend. It's been almost a month since I've run on them. I have a podiatrist appointment in 2 weeks, so I wonder if I should or shouldn't. It could be fine. I could hurt myself more. I really want to, though. I crave it.

And as much as I love biking, and can tolerate cross training in the pool and on the eliptical, nothing, nothing, beats the rush or finishing the 3 mile loop at the quarry. I love those trails.

pool running.

Well, I'm officially 25. It doesn't feel that much different than 24, except that nagging little thought in the back of my mind -- "why don't you have everything figured out yet?"

Sigh.

For some reason, I really thought I would by now.

One thing to be proud of, though, is my exercise habit. While I'm still sans-running (which I'm surprisingly upset and somewhat depressed about) I have been logging some miles on my bike and discovered the awesomeness that is "mountain biking" at the quarry. I like running on the trails there better, but biking gets my heart rate up just as high. And I do love being in nature instead of in spin class. I have the weird tan to prove it.

On another note, I tried pool running yesterday. I did it for 30 minutes after my goggles broke and I refused to swim without them. A kind lady offered to lend me hers, but I'm proud and it really did give me an excuse to try pool running. It was borring, but a good and hard work out. The closest I've come so far to finding a substitute for actual running. I'm actually toying with the idea of doing it twice a week in the hope of my feet being better by August -- I can hopefully work up the muscles so when I can run, I can actually run.

Tonight I'll probably ride at the quarry again, then do some strength training. My goal is twice a week, hopefully to increase to three times a week in August. I finally got around to creating a routine at home, so no excuses.