Snow again - treadmill run

So it snowed again yesterday - about 5 inches. Enough so that I couldn't take 4 - 16 boys to the movies. So they rented one on tv and I lost my living room for the night - and they all slept over. 16 year old boys eat a LOT! :) It was also my youngest's 12th birthday - but he ditched us to go to 2 other birthday parties.

I got to the gym today before work. I did an hour on the elliptical and ran 2 miles on the treadmill. I was set to go a do some weights and noticed it was 4:15pm. It was almost time to get ready for work. So, I put it off until tomorrow. I don't usually work Sunday nights - but the basement is almost finished and it was worth it :) I worked Friday night and the contractor was at my house before I even got home on Saturday morning - with 5 guys. Can you say no sleep? I'm glad I didn't have to go back to work Sat night.

OT starts again this week, so I have to push myself to get to the gym on consecutive work days. Sleep has been a problem for me and I hope upping the exercise will help with this.

The PF doesn't bother me during the running, it's as soon as I slow down or stop. I'm still stretching and icing and I bought shoe inserts. I'm trying them out at work tonight. Crossing fingers - my hips have been fine for the 2 runs this week. I'm a slow runner, I know I'm not going to be breaking any course records (haha), I'm doing this for myself and just to finish the races I start. :)

Running again

So I finally got a run in after 2 weeks resting my foot for plantar fasciitis. I ran 2.25 miles on the treadmill on Tuesday. It was not that bad. My PF acted up later that night though. I have been icing it and stretching. It seems to help at that time. My circuit weight routine is going well and my legs feel like they are getting stronger. My shins and calves certainly are benefiting as they do not scream at me when I run. :)

My goal was to attempt to lose 10 pounds in the 3 weeks that I was playing domestic goddess at home and not working OT while the contractors were doing the basement. Well, I lost 5 of that - and I blame the rest on the Girl Scouts LOL! The basement is almost finished and I can't wait to set up my workout area. I can't wait to get a run in outside (it is 14 degrees right now!)

The Broad Street run is on May 2. My sister is planning her second son's Christening for May 2 (he's not even here yet). I have 2 sisters and we have always switched godmother selection for the kids. Well, my middle sister was the youngest's first child's godmother (follow that?) I found out that I will not be this child's godmother. I will be running the Broad Street 10 miler.

My OT starts again next week - I hope I can keep up with the gym like I've been doing for the last 3 weeks. I've impressed even myself :)

Zumba WoW!

I finished my 3 nights of 12 hour shifts Monday morning. It couldn't end soon enough. It was a crazy weekend and my patient was super sick.

Anyway, Tuesday night was my first night back at the gym. I had to stay close to home during the cause for decisions the contractors needed. I did 1/2 hour on the Arc Trainer and then I sucked up the courage to join a Zumba class for the first time. All I can say is WOW!!! I caught on quickly and didn't end up on my @ss. The instructor was great - she incorporated kickboxing, lower legs, core and even some belly dancing at the end. Too bad after my basement is done that 2 of the 3 Zumba classes offered at my gym happen when I am at work :(( On a happy note - I lost 3.2 pounds in 9 days!!!

I am hoping to get to the gym early today, but expect to get texts from my youngest asking to be picked up from school. Yesterday he sent me texts the his throat and stomach were hurting him. I told him to go to the nurse. No fever, just cold symptoms. He wouldn't stop with the texts so I went and got him. His face was flushed and he felt warm when I got there. (Amazing how they get better when they get home!) He got in trouble for using his phone during school and I even got a call from the vice principal about it Jeez, really? This morning he started again.

Rockin the Gym

SO, my time at home during the week has been great for the gym. I made it there 5 days in a row and on the 6th, I took a 3 mile bike ride around my development. Still no helmet and no brakes were the reason I didn't go to the park :) I've been resting my PF and doing everything but running. I've been stretching, taping and doing the frozen bottle roller. I'm hoping this and rest and Motrin will be all I need. My body hurts in places it has no business hurting :)

This daytime domesticated thing sucks! I need a smaller house or a maid :) What possessed me to put another bathroom in my basement when I don't want to clean the ones we have already??? I am still trying to work up the nerve to clean the boys' bathroom. Come on, aim and shoot - how hard is it? I did many, many loads of clothes over 3 days. The hampers should be empty, right. Are you kidding??? When you take your dirty socks off, where do you put them? My 16 year old reaches overhead and drops them behind the headboard - that explains the stinky teenager smell that I could not get rid of.

I'd rather be working my night shift OT and sleeping during the day!! I am up at 6am and then nonstop all day, including a 2 hour stint at the gym. I so can't hang anymore - I look at the clock around 8:30pm and think - is it too early to go to bed? ;)

I am working 3 12 hour night shift in a row over the weekend, so I don't know how much gym time I will see. I just received home videos by Cathe. She totally rocks. After I ordered one a few years ago, I found out she owns my gym. I want to be like her when I grow up. She is actually 44 and built OMG. Check out her website CatheNation.com

DOMS - Hurt so good. PF-not so much.

So yesterday morning, I was wondering why I was not in more pain from my monster upper body workout the day before. Well, 1:30 this am, they found me. WOW. The lower body workout I did yesterday was not so delayed and hit me at the same time. Ummm, hurt so good?! Yeah, maybe not at 1:30am LOL!

I did the frozen water bottle foot roll for 2 nights now - it actually helps. I taped my feet for yesterdays gym run - I only got to about 0.6 miles and had to slow it down to a medium walk on an incline. The pain was getting worse. I think I' ll rest the feet and continue with the ice rolls and cross training for a week or two. I had a spinach egg white omelet (with 1 yolk) with salsa instead of ketchup. I could definitely do that. Didn't miss my carbs (raisin toast or a bagel) at all. We'll see if I can keep that up.

This being home and awake at 6am is for the birds!!! I had 3 loads of laundry done, booked a trip to Vegas, had made dinner, cleaned 1/3 bathrooms and vacuumed the house by 11am. I didn't want my husband to pass out when he got home, so I stopped and went to the gym. Three weeks of this - ugh. I can't wait til the basement is finished and I can go back to my tons of OT and sleeping during the day!!

I had my first load of laundry in before 7am today - Jeez. I don't drink coffee at home, but I pulled out the coffee maker for emergency use!! LOL It's 24 degrees out right now. I wonder what the cross-wind would be like if I tried to do the BF Bridge today. It's a great 3 mile workout with BIG hills. It would be a walk tho. :( I could walk my bike next door to the park - I don't have a helmet yet. Or maybe just hit the gym again. The Arc Trainer bothered my heel a little yesterday, but I still did 50 minutes on it :)

I got an email that my youngest will be making his confirmation May 23, 2 days after we come back from Vegas. My mother will be sitting - dog sitting, house sitting, can't say "baby" sitting to a 16 1/2 and an almost 12 year old :) There will be practices for him that week and my mother does not drive in New Jersey. Don't know what the plans are for that yet. Now, for more coffeeeeeee!

Plantar fasciitis - oww! New Challenge. Elvis in Vegas?

Well, I did great on Friday at the gym, and then I had a 12 hour night shift and my hips let me know how well I ran for 3 1/2 miles earlier that day. I was limping the whole night. I made it through the night (sounds like a Madonna song LOL) and slept for a little bit. The dog woke me up around 12 (thanks for the 2 1/2 of sleep Ginger). So I got up to pee and landed on the floor. My left heel *^%$# killed me. I always had a mild case of PF that came and went even before running - 12 hour night shifts will do that to you. I never experience pain in my heel like that. I had to do the tippy toe dance to the bathroom. I had another 12 hour night shift that night and it felt like I had stepped on a rock barefoot the rest of the night.

I made it back to the gym on Sunday and "just" did an hour on the Arc Trainer elliptical and 2 miles on the bike. They close at 6 on Sundays.

So my new self-challenge is to lose 10 pounds in 3 weeks. I'm "only" working 2 days a week (and 1 vacation day) for the next 3-4 weeks until my basement is finished. I am hoping to rock the gym during this time. Hopefully, the contractors won't mind me leaving the house for a while. I lost the few pounds that I gained over the holidays and hope to keep on losing it. My husband only has to think about skipping a meal and he drops 5 pounds - so not fair.

The Vegas trip will probably be May 17th - getting excited. My sister should still be out on maternity leave then so I can "borrow" my mother. Hubby has to check and see if that week is available in work and we are set to book the trip.

I wanted to renew our wedding vows (19 years in April) and thought it would be fun with Elvis. Well the web site is so cheesy, I think I'll hold off on that for now. :)

4 days this week... :)

Yeah me. Made it to the gym 4 days this week. I ran 3.5 miles today!! I'm so happy that my shins don't talk to me anymore and my calves only said "hi." My hips won't stop talking tho. I feel like I'm 120 years old. I looked up some good stretches that I have to start doing and I hope they help. I am hoping when I lose some more weight - they calm down. I wish I could have made it the last 2 days, but working 12 hour night shifts kicks my but anymore :P

I am "only" working the 2 days a week for the next 3 weeks, so I am hoping to burn up the gym and the miles. Hopefully it warms up a little. I would love to start running outside (as much as I dread it!) and start with the bike too!

I printed out the Hal Higdon half marathon novice plan and will follow that for my 10 mile training for May2. If I feel I am ready, I may attempt the 13.1 2 weeks prior to that. I am not trying to win 1st (or 10th :) just finish. So if I have to walk (read probably will) part of it - so be it. I just don't want to kill myself for the Broad Street 10 miler 2 weeks from then. They have a limit of 4 hours to complete the 13.1 miles and I know I could even do that walking the whole thing so I should probably just sign up now so I don't have any excuses

Update: Well, I don't have to worry about the 1/2 marathon. I've been looking at it thinking Rutgers - the one 15 minutes away from me. I just looked up specifics and it's the campus over an hour and a half away. Not gonna happen for my first half. pooey! I'm really bummed!

X Train and Vegas

Three days in a row to the gym - yeah me!!! Today was a rockin' day for cross-training. 50 minutes on the Arc trainer, my upper body weight rotation, calves and back up to the bike for 2.5 miles. Biking is not easy -ugh. I have not been on a bike in a while, so much for the saying, get right back on...... Although it was the stationary bike in the gym.... I have to build up my leg strength.

The Oddman duathlon is March 27th - so I am hoping to be there. 5k run, 10mile bike ride, 5k run. It's called Oddman because prizes are given out to 1/3/5 place "2nd is the first loser" is their motto.

I may be heading out to Vegas for our anniversary. Yeah. The only downside is that it is the week leading up to the Broad Street 10mile. (I have to do it this year or Chrissy will kill me!) I wanted to try and put it off for a few weeks but my sister will be heading back to work off of maternity leave by then and I lose my sitter (my mom). SOOOO, if I hit the gym every morning before the pool, drinks, dinner, drinks, gambling, drinks, a show, drinks....do you see where this is headed :) That would be my taper down week - right??? haha

I really want to see the show BITE. Hubby wants no part of my vampire fascination ---until I told him it was a topless vampire show. Well, he tried to get me tickets for Christmas (but they didn't sell that far in advance!!!)

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!! I had a great time with my family on New Year's Eve. Fralinger Stringband won for the 8th time in row on New Year's Day! Congrats!


I made it to the gym on New Year's Eve to usher out 2009. The ankle is still a little twingy but a slow mile run felt good. I worked on New Year's Day (night shift of course) and then on Saturday night. Note to everyone. When naming a person to make your medical decisions for you - make sure they are not going to be so high when that time comes that they can't even stand up or barely keep their eyes open. What a night. This poor woman coded on the floor and was brought down to our ICU. She was a continuous code for over 5 hours. The patient's daughter was so high on something - trying to explain to her what was going on was next to impossible. Another note - 800 relatives, friends, people you might see on the bus - do not have to come to the hospital. That is what a wake and funeral are for - not trying to be mean here, but it make it incredibly hard for the nurses to actually get to the patient and try and code them when they have to call security to get the visitors out of the room and then keep asking them not to go into occupied ICU rooms or vacant rooms. Who does that??? I digress....


Well I actually made it to the gym today after working night shift and the gym closing early. Yeah me. 45 minutes on the Arc Trainer and a slow mile and half felt good. My new Garmin is collecting dust. I do not do cold well. It is 20 degrees here now. (I do do heat well either haha.) I know some people only like to run in shorts but there must be a limit! Come on. It was 19 degrees out, snow on the ground, snowing, and some "idiot" was running with shorts on. His legs were bright red. Hello - frosbite anyone?? Bring it inside and say "treadmill." Jeez!


My plans for 2010 include the wish list to the side. I am not sure that I will be ready for the Rutgers 13.1 but I will try and prepare for it. It may be just too soon for a half marathon for me. But, no fear, I have several more listed :) Still trying to get hubby running with me. It would help if we actually saw each other more than 5 minutes. :)

Having great hopes for the 3-4 weeks the contractors will be here. I will only be working 2 days a week (and taking a vacation day) so I can be here when the contractors are doing the basement. I am hoping to get to the gym Monday - Friday for some quality time :))

I am also planning a trip to Las Vegas with hubs. Have to plan it around my sister's delivery so my mom can watch the kids. Can't wait!!! We've never been there.

Enjoying tonight. Family together watching tv, fire lit, wine, just plain old relaxing!! What's that??! LOL