Sniffle, sneeze....

Well, been hard at work in the backyard again. They say keeping busy keeps your mind off things, but I end up doing a lot of thinking. I don't know if there is anything you can do to keep you mind off things unless it engages your mind to think of something else. Yard work, running and bike riding are all great "therapy" for me because it lets me think, try to work through "problems" and because I am busy with a task at hand, it prevents me from still idle and doing something rather unproductive and possibly detrimental.  (I do sometimes wish I could push all the thoughts put of my brain for once and have a peaceful moment.)



 friend posted this today and I thought, how perfect. It's true. I can look backing so many ares of my life and say "wow, that was tough" but you know what, I made it through. I am here today, the person I am because of all I have gone through, and I still think the best is yet to come. So while I am feeling miserable, I just need to remember it's all for the good. I pray for the wisdom, I pray for the strength and I pray for GRACE! Gosh, I am still trying to get my head wrapped around that one.
(seriously, look it up and really study it....it's not easy)

Monday, Monday

Well, my legs finally recovered, so I put them to the test yesterday... Nice 61 mile bike ride with DB, Joe, Ashley, John and Tom. Don't ever be fooled by a flat ride, ever!! It is pure work. There was not one spot where I ever ran out of  "pedal" and could coast. It was all work. The temps were great and the sky was overcast. Perfect break from the hot, humid rides we have been on. We left Owego about 9am going north on 38 all the way to Richford. Pancake flat with a nice headwind....work it baby, work it!!! We stopped at the gas station in Richford to regroup and then headed west of 79. 79 in a nice road, believe it or not. Wide shoulders, smooth, rolling hills....but the headwind was still there. There were times I felt like I was just goin no where, but finally made it to Brooktondale Rd and hung a left, down into the cute town and then took White Church Rd to Coddington. At this point, my knees were strating to talk to me, I was not happy because I wanted to push it. Somewhere on Coddington were ran into our Tour De Cure captain and chit chatted for a few minutes. Then it happened...the shy opened up and the rain came. To this point, we had been riding over some wet roads, but had been very lucky...well, luck ran out. Now, I don't mind riding in the rain, but it was a tad chilly! So, we made it through Candor, our next regroup spot and then through Catatonk...and then it happened... Joe flatted. At this point I am wet, knees hurt, ass hurts and we are a mere 12 miles from the cars...but, got the tire changed and off we go. Fortunately he got a flat right by a place that had an shelter! And the ran stopped, and the sun came out.... Woo Hoo... So, we finished up chilly, but the sun was shining ... Thank you Mr. Sunshine!

Purge and Pain

Well, it has been a fine couple of days! CD mission is 99% complete, thank goodness! I cut down some bushes in the backyard, well, I did have some help. Now I need to get it all picked up and out to the curb by Monday. In the mean time I either have a summer cold or the allergies are kicking my ass! Sneezy, itchy, runny nose and eyes... Ugh!
Today I also cleaned out some of the kitchen cupboards and headed to the basement and went through 3 boxes or so. If it's in a box and not on display as a prized possession, why own it?? I am hoping to be garage sale ready in 2 weeks!
Ashely totally kicked my ass yesterday. I felt fine this morning, but as the day has worn on, I can feel in in the legs...WOW.... I did 1/2 hour work out with her, then we road bikes for 1hr 15 min and then I did my couch to 5k plan for 1/2 hour... Yeah... I got goals... We are purging EVERYTHING, including the chub!!! Thank goodness today was a rest day!
I am also happy, great full, honored, blessed... I have gotten to see Sara a couple times since she has been home!! I am so excited to visit her in February... I secretly wish she was here longer, but I would want to get back to NZ too... She has many reasons to be happy there!
On a side note, I am still finding what makes me happy. I love the process. It is painful at times, and I feel like I take steps backwards... But then there is always a leap forward...and then I smile. One thing is that I don't ever want to pass up the opportunity to tell someone how I feel about them. Or show them how I feel about them. What if it was the last time I every got to see that person? Would they know how I felt? I love all my friends very much. If you are a part of my life, it is because you are important to me. My closest have seen me at my best and my worst... And they still like me :)... My friends are some of the best in the world. I am so blessed!!
G'night all... LOVE YOU!

July 28th

“The Purge” continues. I am almost done downloading my CD’s to my computer, and it’s a good thing because I am bored with it and it is a slight pain in the ass. A trip to Best Buy is in my future, I may need a thumb drive if the one I currently have is not big enough and I would like an iPod to put the music on so I can dock it instead of my phone. It’s hard to listen to music and text at the same time when it is docked!!

I also started a couch to 5K training program. Yes, I can run 3 miles, but it’s not pretty, my feet don’t like it and I am trying to find the fun in running again. I downloaded this silly little app that tells me when to walk and when to run… and the “coach” is a zombie. Today he let me keep all my limbs because he could not catch me…lol. I am also trying new sneakers, so this was a nice way to get back into it and I am also going to try to keep my run pace less than 10 min miles.

I also did one of the workouts Ashley has given me to do. I am going to try to run three times per week and do the workouts three times per week. The runs are not too tough right now and only 30 minutes long, so I will run first and then do a workout. I have set up “The Plan”, the first four weeks are on paper. Probably the biggest goal right now is to drop some poundage. I don’t know what my race plans are for next year, but carrying around less baggage will help A LOT. Of course there is still biking on the schedule. Swimming will be added back in the future.  

Today was IMLP! Hard to believe that a year ago I signed up for the awesome race, but didn’t do it… makes me sad, but life really got in the way. I feel like I am always trying to figure out how to balance life and maintain my identity. I think the truth is I am still trying to figure out what that identity is. I am so proud of all my friends who competed today. The sacrifices that they made to get the training done, it’s just amazing. My friends are amazing =)

Cha cha changes!

The ever changing change.... Does that even make sense? I think I am still going through getting over getting a divorce. So ready to move on in so many ways. Still trying to better myself. Yes, I want to be one of those healthy, fun, living life little old ladies. Trying to change everything at once is tough, but I get bored easily, so it's good to have multiple projects to work on.
Current project... the purge!
In case I have not mentioned it, I have discovered that I like less. When I moved out 2 years ago last April, I only took what I needed. After all, we were going to fix stuff and I would be back home in a year living happily ever after. Well, as time would tell, that did not happen. But the point here is my apartment was so stress free, so uncluttered, so....basic. I had what I needed, I was not spending a ton of time cleaning. I had time to do stuff that I liked to do... Fast forward to today. I have STUFF. I have accumulated stuff on my own. Ted also packs up boxes of my stuff and occasionally a truck load will show up... Just stuff. Stuff I have not used nor seen in years, but, I must go through the stuff. And that's where the pain starts.... Keep it? Get rid of it? Do I really need all this stuff? Okay, call me ... Idk ... Boring, but I have not put up a Christmas Tree in years, I have not decorated my house for any holiday in years, so why, WHY do I have totes and totes and totes of decorations????? No need. I am tired of stuff. It weights me down. I am not getting rid of everything, but it is such a burden lifted to just say..."I have not touched this, worn this or used this in 6 months... Your outta here..."
Today, I sit here surrounded by piles of CD's. Music, I love my music, but I want it to be more portable, take up less room, so everything is going on my lap top. I will admit, there are twinges of pain when I put some of the cd's in the pile of "downloaded and out the door" pile. I will prob keep a few of my favorites for the car (for a little while anyway). I will admit, it's not a hard task, but I am actually getting to the point of...."why am I downloading this to the computer? I have not listened to this one in....YEARS..."
I think every part of our lives is intertwined with every other part of our life. To be happy, healthy, stress free, we need to tackle each aspect. I was happier with less clutter, I had more time for myself to do what I liked with out worrying about my messy house, which also gave me time to eat better, exercise more, chill with my friends. I could do anything at the drop of a hat with out worrying!!

MusselMan and stuff....

What an awesome weekend with friends. I had  a great race and did quite well on the swim and bike, the run on the other hand, while not bad for me, cost me about 20 spots in my age group.

Had my second personal training session with Ashley, I feel my buns this morning.  It feels good to add strength training in to the routine. It feels like I get a better work out, using muscles that I don't normally use, it's great and hopefully it's just what I need to make the numbers go down. My knee's are feeling great after the shots, what a difference! I feel a little twinge know and then, but nothing that lasts very long. I also finally invested in new running sneakers, so I am gong to try this running thing again. Just want to be able to do 5k's and have fun...no need to run crazy miles. This heat how ever is putting a damper on doing anything outside. Ugh.

Still trying to figure out this ever changing schedule.... It's insane. Had to make plans, but hopefully I will get it eventually!

xxoo

Today is the first day...

Today IS the first day of the rest of my life. I have heard that many times and then I saw a FB post today about a little old lady who has this posted where she can she it everyday.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.... I will make at least one small step towards my goal of  achiving better health...

This is from a 76 year old grandma... So true, so inspiring that, no, I am not too old to do this. I am 41 years young. I am truly in the best years of my life.

So, here we are, once again, starting over. Refocusing, setting goals, getting the help I need to push me. Today is a new day, what I did yesterday was, well, yesterday. Today is the day to start!!

And I did... Thank you Ashley!! I will be feeling this later!

Hi

Weekend Adventure

This past weekend, our adventures took us to Centralia PA... a ghost town, although I don't know if it really counts because there are no houses except the handful of the few remaining citizens. But first, we stopped at this cute little dinner for lunch.

 Cute... I didn't order the Bat Caul though... not that adventurousness ... lol.... (Ashland, PA)










With belly's full, we headed on down route 61, till we see a berm... and the road turns to the right... we pull over and take a little walk down the closed road that used to be Route 61.... This is the sight...

The crack and heaving were caused by the coal fires under ground.... they finally had to build a new road around this...

Stephen

It's a big crack!! You could see the smoke or gasses, but they didn't show up in the pictures.

This is a view down one of the streets, no houses to be seen, just roads... what a great weekend exploring.... and learning a little history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania

Hellooooo!

Oh Boy... I have slid backwards big time... but it's okay... sometimes a step or two backwards helps you realize how far forward you have come. Does that make sense?? Weight is back up to 186. I have not been training. In fact, I have decided that IMLP is off the schedule for this year.

Life is just crazy... I am ready to be divorced... I am buying another house... Work is insane... so I have decided to just control what I can...

Looking forward to the following races this year:
St. Patricks 4 miler
The Binghamton Bridge Run 1/2
Seneca 7
Forks XV
MiniMussel

Then we will see what the rest of the season brings...