Root Canal

It's not a leisurely place to float by in a gondola... it's a throbbing pain in my mouth.

I got my dentist to squeeze me in for an appointment and she diagnosed my sore face as a much needed root canal.  She sent me off with a prescription for Tylenol 3's and antibiotics, but my appointment for relief is only on May 18th.

I'm worried I'm not going to make it without climbing up a clock tower... *sigh*  I've missed a few days work because I can't sleep, but tomorrow I need to make an effort to go in.... and it's close to midnight and I still can't sleep.  Awesome.

Last week I only ran twice and my second run was a pathetic 2km that I forced myself to do amidst the pounding in my head.  Tonight I missed my clinic run, bah... I'm such a wuss when it comes to pain, especially pain in my head.

Antibiotics, Advil and Anebesol are my companions for the next week (at least) and I'm hoping that the throbbing will die down enough for me to get in some training. *fingers crossed*

Okay, I'll try and stop whinning now :D

Oh the updates they are a lagging...

There are so many things that I think about writing during the day that just never make it here anymore.  With my access cut off, I feel like I've lost a limb.  I love to talk, ergo, I love to write as well and this situation has me feeling like I can't express myself enough anymore.  Granted I didn't post something everyday, but it was much more often than once in two weeks *pout*   I've been tossing a few ideas around in my head on how to get around the issue:

 

write myself an e-mail with entries for the blog and send those as needed, which I can copy/paste when at home.

bring my small personal laptop to work and net tether my Iphone and upload posts as needed.

write out posts longhand (UGH, never mind sounds too much like effort)

 

I think I'll try option number one for now... and I'm actually writing this up in an e-mail right now.  It has a few advantages in that I could send a bunch of small ideas which can get amalgamated into a larger post, or the smaller ideas can grow of their own volition in the dark with some fertilizer into a full grown post of their own :)  The biggest advantages are not needing to schlep equipment to and from work and not using my cell phone's data plan (it's generous 6 gig plan, but why chance it if I get super wordy).  The other thing that is a bit of an impediment to option 2 is that local IT staff gets really twitchy when you bring in external equipment, they have visions of me surfing porn, uploading viruses via USB stick to the work network or even worse:  using Facebook during the workday :P

 

You must be wondering what kind of cushy job I have that I could even possibly contemplate writing blog posts while working... well I used to write my blog posts at lunch time while eating :P  My job is not a full tilt go go go kind of job as we write reports after large outages (network or system related) and we have tasks to do in-between flurries of frantic report writing, but those tasks are ongoing.  The ups and downs take some getting used too, but I prefer it over really boring monotonous or super high stress jobs... it's a nice mix that keeps us on our toes!

 

On the weight side of things, I'm almost back (officially) to the 229 area, I was there before my Saturday weigh-in, but went up to 230.5.  I hope to be at 229 or below it this week, but it's a long weekend (Easter) and weekends are historically difficult for me.

 

Running is going well; my 5km clinic is moving along well and we've just past he halfway point.  I did 3.2kms on Tuesday in under 30 mins, so I'm not Speedy Gonzales, but it's decent.  I figure I'm either getting faster, or the people taking the course with me are a slower bunch than usual because when I've run with them, not only can I see them, but I'm running with at least 4 to 5 people each time... Garmin says I'm faster overall each time we go out, so I'm cool with that.

It still confuses me how I am so much slower on the treadmill than out in "real life" .  If I ran on the treadmill at the pace I run outside, I think I'd have a heart attack.... and we run up hills during the clinic!!!  I just don't get it!  I'll tell you one thing:  I'm not going to look a gift pace too deep in the mouth :)

On the road to catching those elusive pounds

In my guestimation I had gained about 8 pounds on vacation week, by the time I came back and ignored the scale until the following official Weight Watchers meeting, I was down to only 5.5 pounds of gainage (pffftt yeah ONLY 5.5 lbs)  2.5 pounds gone during that partial week and another pound gone this week, which means I've got the vacation weight running scared... That's it run you little Adipose monsters!

Dr. Who Baby Adipose

This week at the meeting, we talked about physical activity and how it can help our weight loss.  Everyone knows the age old formula of move more and eat less, but if those were easy we'd all be slim and healthy :)  Moving more on a daily basis can be a challenge... I am very familiar that a tired brain and a bad diet makes that couch yell so much louder than it should ever be allowed too.  However, I noticed that when I worked in at least an hour of walking into my daily routine, I may not have shed tons of weight, but I felt better physically, mentally and satisfaction-wise.  

Satisfaction-wise?  What the hell am I talking bout'?  Well I figured since we spend so much time watching TV and North Americans that I wouldn't deprive myself of the want of the TV, i'd just combine it with my need to get movement.  When I walk on the treadmill, I watch Biggest Loser, Last 10 pounds and X-weighted and not only do I get to see some of my favorite shows, I get my walk, and I get inspired by watching all these other people kicking ass on a daily basis.  I'm satisfied that I got to see my shows without feeling like I lay around like a beached whale all day :)

On that note, i'm off to do some laundry... running and living seems to generate lot's of stinky clothes!

Oh vacation you tempestuous biatch!

Vacation is defined by Merriam-Webster as:


1 a respite or a time of respite from something : intermission
2 - (a) a scheduled period during which activity (as of a court or school) is suspended (b) a period of exemption from work granted to an employee
3 a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation

I would like to add to that:

Vacation is a respite from your diet, a period spent away from your exercise schedule and a an inordinate amount of time eating improper things.......

Which all adds up to a weight gain, to which I say:  Keep calm and run.  I registered for a new race:  It's the Perth Kilt run on July 2nd.  It's an 8km run and yes, we get to run in kilts!  lol  Part of the registration fee pays for your very own kilt to sweat in!  Ain't that awesome?

I looked in my weight watchers books of weight ins and I've set myself back about a month... in one week.  Ouch!  Gotta refocus and rededicate myself to the cause... my cause!

ps.  It annoys me that I can't update my blog from work anymore...hence the lack of posts *pout*

St. Paddy's race results

It was my first race of the 2011 season, first time running the St. Patrick's day race and first time running with my friend Vicky.  Normally Vicky and I get together with a few other friends to eat... in fact we nick named our group the Excellent Asian Eating Team, of which Vicky and I are honorary Asians (obviously).  So it was a nice change of pace (pun intended) to hang out with Vicky for a different activity.  I like it when happy times don't have to revolve around food... yanno?

Anyway, on to race stuff.  Patricia from the Merivale Running Room took this adorable picture of Vicky and me waiting for race to start in the High School gym where it was toasty warm.  Vicky and I look like pimps... ready to pimp out some leprechaun hookers hahaha

Weather-wise we lucked out.. it was a bit chilly and damp, but the route was ice free and mostly puddle free. The High School that was hosting the race had lot's of ice and crud in their parking lot, but we managed to not  slip and fall.

Our race was delayed 15 minutes due to technical difficulties, aka they hadn't put up all the barricades in time.  So we trekked back to the car to get some forgotten earphones and on the way back I fawned over one of the guys representing the Perth kilt run... he had long hair and was decked out in his kilt with a sword, a shield and a jacket with studs on it... *sigh*

Anyway, *focus reset* we trudged back through the ice and got in line for the race.  Yet again, I did not hear the race gun go off... (The Army run really knows how to do that part with a canon... KABOOM!) and started moving a long like sheep when I saw the crowd surging forward.

Vicky and I are not at the same fitness level .. so we decided in advance that we would run each our own race.  I'm cool with running my own race (no need to talk while panting), besides i'd feel guilty to hold anyone back  and possibly cause them injury from running too slow.  Hey it is possible.

I was totally expecting my first 10 minute chunk to be stiff and uncomfortable like i'd been kidnapped by aliens and all my organs have been put back in the wrong order (the alien thing is Vicky's description which I stole because it totally describes that feeling perfectly)  So despite my fears the first 10 mins weren't bad at all and they seem to pass in a flash.  Must have been the adrenaline of race day because it feels like the1km marker flew by really quick.

Not too long after the 2km marker Vicky passed me on her way back and with a quick high 5 we were both back on our way.  I took a quick pause at the turn around point to drink some really great cold water... but I shouldn't have... I should have just kept going and drank water afterwards... slowing down for the water probably cost me a minute or two not to mention the fact that water makes my tummy ooggy.  It felt great going down, but afterwards... not so much.... yuck

I really pushed hard after the turn around to try and gain back my lost time and I think I did well... caught up with some people that seemed to have been on the same pace as me.  Then the energy level seemed to have dropped down, I pushed through it and kept chanting in my mind that it was all "mind over body"

I finished with my fastest race time yet... 44:29!  WOOOHOO!  It's not a whole minute faster, but it's still faster!  Vicky finished in 34:47 and she'd been hoping to break 35 minutes... YAY!

I'm quite happy with our race day results and to celebrate after we were done we did what all Irish do, we went out for Korean BBQ with friends hehehe... :P  Dave and Amy, two other members of the E.A.E.T. team took Vicki and I for some very welcomed protein and it was very good and just what we needed.

After our eating Vicky and I went back to my car and DOH parking ticket... *sigh* oh well the joys of parking downtown... paid for some time on the meter and then we went to Rideau Centre to meet up with my friend Alex.  We perused Lululemon and I decided it will be several more dress sizes and salary raises before I can buy stuff there :)  Vicky had to run away and catch a bus so Alex and I went back to my car to put more cash in the meter, spent some time in a really cool kitchen store and then got a diet pop at a local Subway and hung out for a bit until my yawns became very pronounced hehehe  "Sorry Alex!"  

Drove home, had a nice hot shower, my honey made me soup and grilled cheese and then I lay like broccoli on the couch slowly falling asleep dreaming of breaking the 44 minute barrier at my next race :)

Good times, good times :)

The slow descent into Fantastic!

The last two weigh ins were -0.5 lb losses... some may consider that slow, but I just consider that PROGRESS!

I've been going to Weight Watchers meetings since January 22nd and I've lost 9 lbs.... I think that's awesome.   I'll tell you why that's so awesome:

Last year I ran and ran and ran and ran and did some biking and some Aquafit, but the whole year I bounced around the mid 240's to the mid 230's and my low of 232 in July was only due to working out super hard and probably sweating buckets of sweat during a really hot month.

My mistake or mistakes (cause I'm sure I've made more than one) was that I wasn't eating enough.  For my height, weight, age and awesome personality *snicker* i get 34 weight watchers points a week... in the old plan it was 28.  What I started doing was eating 25 points a day...I'd loose weight all week... then on the weekends, when I'd sleep in and have more free time, i'd end up eating more, or eating different or eating too late ... or something... who the hell knows... but the stats showed that I lost weight all week and after the weekend was over I was pretty much back to the same spot.  I was hungry often.

Fast forward to this year... The new plan is more points and fruit is zero, so I've been eating a lot better, very little processed food and not many junk food cravings.  I've been eating my daily points and my weekly allowance, while earning at least 40 activity points, but not eating those.  Because of that, I've consistently been loosing weight ... one gain due to female biology, but it was gone the week after...  I'm getting close to last year's lowest weight... and I'm thrilled!  I think i'll be even more thrilled when I can make it to the mid 220's... I'll feel safe, I'll feel like I'm "officially" taking care of business :D

St. Patrick's day race this Saturday, and it looks like we're either going to be swimming or skating the race...

*sigh*  I knew it was too early to sign up for a race :)

100th blog post: Restaurant week did NOT beat me!

So four restaurant visits last week and 3 times running 5km on the treadmill last week with no extra kms in between... and I stil managed to lose 0.5 lbs!!!

WOOO - Freaking out - HOOOOO!


All that eating out was tough, and I feel like it cost me a lot more than just money, but time... more time spent working towards my goal.  The only thing that made it worth it was the lessons learned and the great company.

This week's weigh in better be freaking spectacular!

And on a final note, I can't believe i've done 100 blog posts already.. .wow ... 100 blog posts that about 2 people have read on a regular basis LOL

Here's to 100 more!