Holy Catsmoke, Batman!

Don't even ask me where that post title came from - there is not an ounce of relevance within this post!


Hi there!  Where have you been? 


What? Me?  Where have I  been? Well, lets see, I've been working, quitting jobs, re-situating my life, entertaining guests from Florida, going to music concerts, riding bike, and running!  Yep, running!  I can kinda do it!


Last Saturday, I ran with a group of friends in a nearby 5-mile 'race'.  I haven't run over 4 miles in a couple of years, so that was a feat to begin with - then, I challenged myself to try to get it done in less than an hour.


Ready for this? Drum roll, pleeeease . . .


59:04! Woot, woot!  I did it!  Less than an hour!  A couple of accomplishments throughout the run include 1) not stopping to walk until around 18minutes into the race, 2) keeping a close eye on the friends who were running just ahead of me and sticking with them, 3) when a song came on the Ipod that was really motivating, I kept replaying (and replaying) to keep my body movin'!

Loved having a great group of strong, kind women to be active and outdoors with!  Thank you, ladies! (And friend's fiance's brother!)

5-Mile Run (about to commence!)

A few of us went for a 12-mile "easy" bikeride on Tuesday.  Planned to do a 3-mile run this morning but this lady was super-duper tired and opted to gain some more rest.  (Not sure it did any good!) I've been tracking runs and bike rides on www.mapmyrun.com and www.mapmyride.com which, as long as my phone is receiving a decent GPS signal, gives distance and pace (as well as the map)!  Cool!

Time to Try!

Time to get back to work.  Thank you, mom and stepmom, for most recent motivation! 
Mom just finished in 1st place in her local gym's virtual race (milage from one city to another).  WAY TO GO, Mama!


Stepmom invited me to participate in a 5k in Vegas when we go for the 4th of July this year.  Well, how can I say no?  Really.  Other than the fact that it will take place at 7am, a time that I have not witnessed since Minnesota (unless staying up incredibly late to play with friends or drive roomy to airport), I have no reason NOT to participate in said race.  If nothing else, I can certainly WALK the 5k if my feet/legs hurt. 


Who's with me?  Find a competition to get you "re-motivated"!


Side note: I "donated" (sold) my blood/plasma yesterday for the first time.  After an obscenely long wait to even sit in the chair for my arm to be stuck-and-sucked, I ended up nearly passing out with a very low blood pressure . . . well, what do they expect after such a long wait and no food?  Seriously!  Gotta keep this big gal fed!  P. S. If you ever donate/sell plasma (I don't like the donate term because you actually get paid), make sure you a) eat and drink plenty of healthful nutrients and fluids before and after participating, and b) do not engage in moderate or vigorous exercise a few hours before or after the process.  Read more about the life-saving (and money making) opportunity at DONATE PLASMA.


Further note: I have been getting some exercise that I haven't documented.  Both Tuesday and Wednesday at work (library) I volunteered to do the rounds/security check to get up and walking around.  One of the days, cannot remember which, I went for a nice 40 minute walk with the dog and TK.  Today, I biked to work again to take advantage of the cooler weather in the mornings.  Not going to lie, though - if the bus were a more convenient option, I would probably still take the bus.  I can be thankful that the bus schedule provides me an opportunity to get my bum on a bike and pedal-power to work, which is only a few minutes away.  Finally, some days my work schedule allows me to be at a computer/desk that is approximately waist-height.  I can stand and compute, as well as stretch and do some modified yoga moves!  I have taken advantage of this already today! 

Stay tuned . . . want to get going with some 5k training.  Hoping it will get me psyched and ready to start tri-training for the fall!

I'm BAAACK! I'm BACK in the saddle agaaaain!

Not the saddle AC/DC maybe speaks of but my bike saddle!

A couple of lessons learned today:

1) My sister and I are emotionally challenged young women.

2) I'm really going to like my job at the Health Science Center library :)

3) When someone asks if you want to go for a walk or bike ride, JUST DO IT.  <--I have been paying attention to this for the last couple of weeks.  Even if I don't feel like it OR have already gone for my "exercise" of the day, if my roomie or a friend asks if I want to take a walk or bike ride, I'm taking advantage of it.  I will benefit from the extra movement.

Today, even though riding bike at 5:30pm in Gainesville in early May isn't my favorite time (humidity, sun, traffic) I did it anyway.  And SOOO glad I did.  We had a really nice ride that ended up being around 14 miles or so.  We averaged about 12 mph and stopped at our "reason for going" (KA and DL's apt to start up their scooter!) and stopped at Lloyd Clark Sports (AWESOME AWESOME little niche shop!).

Anyway, good day, overall.  Especially after last night - really being a frumparoo about life/exercise/decisions/etc.  So thankful to have gotten up and out on the bike - it has been literally weeks since I've biked.  WHOA.

HAD to add this!! Michelle Obama is AWESOME!  Check out this video from ABC News today! MObamaDanceatSchool