Ommmmm September 14, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Healthy Living.1 comment so far
I found the best book Monday night: MegaYoga, for curvy women! Megan Garcia, the yoga instructor, does traditional poses with modifications for those of us who have bellies and boobs that get in the way. 
I can finally do Child’s Pose without feeling like I’m suffocating!
I’ve done yoga the last three days, about 30 minutes each day. Since I have two mats, I brought one into work, along with a change of clothes. The microfilm room is out of the way enough to use, so I’ve been practicing on my dinner break. It’s amazing how peaceful and relaxed I feel afterward.
I copied all the pose pages in the book so I can combine them into different routines without flipping back and forth. It also makes it easier to change things up a bit. Now to bring the other mat in from my trunk to my apartment so I can practise first thing in the morning.
Still running May 10, 2006
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My iPod rocks! I tweaked my running playlist and managed to run for almost 30 minutes today – 2.25 miles total. (.85R/.25W/1.4R) Yes, I actually almost made it 1.5 miles in one stretch. I probably could have, but I ran out of tunes.
I’m going to tweak it again in the morning so the first and second sections aren’t so lopsided. Anyway, I’m thinking I can hit 7 or 8 miles total this week, which puts me easily on track for 10 during the last week of the month. (If, of course, I run the rest of this week.)
I can feel myself getting in shape though. My muscles are rarely sore in the afternoons anymore, and I don’t huff and puff nearly as much. Once I can build up a milage base, I’ll be in good shape, since tired muscles are what’s holding me back now.
Next week’s goal is to keep the same playlist as tomorrow, but try and cover more ground than I did this week. Then I’ll tweak the playlist for the last full week to add in more running time, probably enough to keep me going through June.
This week’s goal: 7 miles total
Next week’s goal: 9 miles total
May goal: 10 miles a week
June goal: 15 miles a week
July goal: Maintain 15 mile weekly total and race in July 4th 5K
I’m back! May 3, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Healthy Living, Trixie Friends, Work madness.1 comment so far
Yesterday was really the only day I had an excuse for not posting. It was local Election Day, with all the craziness that entails.
Other news:
* WG is up to his ears in both farm stuff and work craziness, so we’re on hiatus, more or less. Since he’s averaging less than six hours a night of sleep between putting in full days at both jobs, I can’t really complain.
* It’s also making it easier for me to get to bed earlier, which I’m hoping will translate into more running. Alas, today was back at Day 1, since I didn’t run or walk Sunday or Tuesday. Monday I did a little mall walking after my root canal, but that was about it. On the plus side, I did squeeze in 3/4 mile today, and will remember to have a slice of toast with PB tomorrow morning so I have the energy to do the full 1.5 miles.
* I did a few hours of cooking Monday night and have a freezer full of meals for a month. Average cost: 50 cents per meal. Tough to beat that. And since they’re ready to go, I can’t really complain that I don’t have time to cook.
* I managed to set aside $20 for running sneakers over the last few weeks, and I’m hoping to save up enough before I have to replace mine that I don’t have to dip into savings.
* That’s especially good because my savings is basically going toward my dentists for the next few months, between two root canals and the necessary crowns. *sigh* At least I have good dental insurance.
* MTM apparently is continuing to make trouble for SE over this project I’m working on with them, but he’s pushed SE a little too far. I’m forseeing a showdown between those two in the next few months.
* I finally get to see at least one Trixie friend this weekend, when I celebrate Aleta’s new (to her) gas grill with a backyard cookout. It’s been forever since I’ve seen Trixie friends. *sigh*
Running success! April 26, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Healthy Living, Running.1 comment so far
I’m up to Day 7, and the whole 21-day rule has been great. I had a couple of days where I crunched for time, but found myself getting out there just so I could avoid starting over. Yay me!
Today was the first day I actually ran this week, thanks to some craziness. But I made it 1.5 miles. Not only that, but instead of my “run .75/walk 1.5/run .75″ plan, I did .75/.5/.75, which cut some time off the total workout and means I’m in better shape than I thought I would be.
Running with music is making a huge difference. It’s a lot easier to just tune out and let the music carry me forward. All those years of marching band training me to move in time are paying off in a completely unexpected way.
Last week I ran 4.4 miles total, which means $4.40 for my savings pocket. If I can run the same distance Friday and Saturday (my healthy eating class is tomorrow morning, so running then is out), I’ll have 4.5 miles for the week, and will have met my April goal.
My goal next week is to run the 1.5 miles at least four days. I also want to try and run a 1-mile time trial at the high school track to give me a base to measure progress from. I figure a sub-15:00 mile is good for now. That gives me 7 miles for the week.
My goal for May is to build to 10 miles a week, with one run of at least 3 miles during the week. That puts me on track (no pun intended) to run the July 4th 5K at the park. I’ll also repeat the time trial at the end of May to measure progress. Since I found my nice watch with the stopwatch function, it will be easy. (Once I get a new battery, of course.)
Day 2 April 21, 2006
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With nine days left in the month, I managed to run two chunks today for a total of 1.05 miles. (.6 and .45) Go me! The iPod’s battery didn’t die this time, and I decided I should have started running to music a long time ago. It’s just enough of a distraction and energizer to keep me going.
The importance of goals April 20, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Healthy Living, Personal Finance, Writing.2 comments
As you’ve all figured out by now, I have credit card debt. (I also have student loan debt, but I’m not really worried about that right now.) My balance now is about three times what it was four years ago, but about two-thirds what it was this time last year. Four years ago, I was determined to pay it down. (Imagine how much money and stress I would have saved had I done it then.) It took hitting five figures before I finally said “OK, enough’s enough.” But then I had to figure how to pay it off. Once I switched to weekly payments, automatically sent from my checking account, I finally started making progress. Why? Partially because I had made it simple. But also because I had a goal that I always see progress toward, something a PF blogger talks about much better than I do in this post.
Now I’ve gotten in the habit of thinking “How can I increase that payment? How can I make a bonus payment (like the one I mentioned earlier today)?” And since every payment shows a noticeable decline in the balance, there’s incentive to continue that, as well as to find sources for one-time payments.
My next goal is to clean out my apartment, weeding out books I can sell back to the used book store and clothes and other items I can save for the next community yard sale. I can certainly do with less stuff, plus the extra money will be another chunk I can put towards my debt. And as I see the space getting freed up, it will make me that much more determined to continue the progress.
Now if I can just find some tangible way to show words piling up, maybe I can get back into writing regularly…
Running fool April 20, 2006
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As always, I made time Monday for my annual Marathon Monday run. It’s 2.6 miles, which is one-tenth of a marathon for those unfamiliar with the sport. It also happens to be two loops around the park if I can run the whole 2.6 in one sitting. Alas, I have not run in several months before this week, so I had to cover about 6 miles alternating running and walking to get my 2.6 in. Oh, my aching legs!
I read somewhere that if you can do anything for 21 straight days, it becomes a habit. So my current goal is to spend at least 30 minutes walking for 21 days, mixing running in as I feel like it. (That’s not a cop-out – I actually do prefer running so it gets mixed in pretty often.)
Tuesday I settled for walking because my legs were aching. Wednesday, well, things went a little haywire at work and I didn’t get any walking done, let alone running. But this morning I went out and ran about three-quarters of a mile out of my 2-mile loop. I considered doing a second loop, but figured I was better off going easy today and being able to run again tomorrow. (And for those counting, skipping Wednesday meant I started over on my 21 days, so I’m now at Day 1.)
Today was the first time I ever ran with music – my iPod – and I kind of liked it. There’s no safety issue because I run in the park instead of on the roads, and it actually made the running portion of the loop go by faster. So I think I’m going to continue running to music and see if that makes it easier to build distance because I’m not thinking about how much further I have to go each step. (As I discovered Monday, if I’m not thinking about the actual running, I get in a pretty good groove and cover more ground before I have to walk.)
My goal for April is to be able to run two, three-quarter-mile segments over the course of four miles (two extended loops) over consecutive days.
Learning from experts April 12, 2006
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County parks and rec is offering a class with two dieticians from the local hospital. It meets at the new supermarket (lots of fresh food and organic stuff) and they walk you through shopping, meal planning, eating better, etc. It seemed like a decent deal at $10 for two hours. So I signed up last week (and took the $$ from my food budget). It’s two weeks from today, just before I get paid again and can go to the farmers’ market. I’m also trying to stash a chunk of my food budget away so I can pick some things up then. (It’s about 20 minutes away, so I’d rather cut down the number of trips.)
I’ll post any particularly good advice here later that evening.
Turning over a new leaf April 1, 2006
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The farmers’ market opened today. One of the advantages of living in a rural area is that the farmers’ market has lots of producers, they’re all local and they have really great stuff and the prices are good. So in an effort to eat better — inspired by Aleta’s diet overhaul — I’m tweaking my routine to start shopping at the market each week, then go to the grocery store for the remaining items.
It’s early in the season, and I didn’t get there until about 10 a.m., so I only could pick up pumpkin and wheat breads, plus two ham pockets (think sealed ham biscuit) for breakfast. And for the fellow Yankees reading this, that means country ham, which is salt-cured so it doesn’t need to be refrigerated. It’s not my first choice, but every once in a while I’ll eat it.
I’m also biting the bullet Monday and canceling my cable. Not broadband, but cable. I haven’t actually watched a TV show at home in longer than I can remember — generally I watch at work — and it seems really dumb to waste $50 a month on it when I could put that toward paying off my credit card.
My state tax refund also will be going there. Now that I’ve paid my (overdue) car tax, I can file my state return this weekend. I should get about $100 back, based on last year’s refund. (My federal was roughly the same, so I imagine state will be too.)
I also should be teaching a color guard class in May, which would net me between $200 and $600, depending on how many kids sign up. They asked me to do a one-day class in August, which could bring in another $100. If both go well, I might be able to teach two, possibly three in the fall, depending on interest. I’m hoping this develops into a second job of sorts, since my other second job options are limited by my schedule. The money would let me pay off my debt faster, which means I’ll be in a position to replace my aging car sooner — hopefully by my 30th birthday. (By replace, I mean have enough saved up so I only have to finance 2 years max, at less than $200 a month. It’ll take a substantial downpayment, but will hopefully mean I can pay cash for my third car.)
I’m also going to be busting my butt at work to get off my boss’ shit list and hopefully make a case for giving me a good evaluation and raise come late June. *crosses fingers* I discovered last year that screwing up even fairly minor stuff between March and June means a big ding, especially if there’s a computer element to the screw-up. Not going to happen this year.
