Competitor

I got some news today that was unexpected to say the least. What was this news? That one of my photos will be published in a magazine in May.

Let me repeat this. A photo of mine. Will be in print. In a magazine. This May.

EEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!

I didn't seek this out. It came to me in a very roundabout way.

I posted the photos I took of the Shamrock Shuffle on my Flickr account and tagged them as such. Someone found one my photos and asked if I might want to submit them to the Shamrock Shuffle 2010 Flickr pool they had created. So I did.

Well those photos were seen, and seen by enough people that someone recognized one of my photo subjects. And in the strangest twist of fate ever, that person happens to the subject of an article in the May issue of Competitor magazine. The reporter emailed me this afternoon to see if my photo could run with her article. It took every ounce of professional restraint in my body not to respond "HELLS YEAH!" to her request. In exchange for my photo, I get as many free copies of the magazine as I want and credit for taking the photo.

So which photo is it?

This one, which also happens to be my favorite from that day.

Remember how one of my goals for 2010 was to get my photo on the Chicago Public Radio homepage photo of the day? Well I still want to do that. But this magazine thing? This is pretty 'effing cool.

Let's Be Friends

I am full of excuses when it comes to finding time to head to the gym. It's too hot, or it's too cold, or it's too early, or it's too late. Or I too recently took a shower. Apparently I at times need a swarm of flies circling my head to determine it is in fact time to head to the gym. My friend Lexi thinks she's the queen of excuses. But she has two children, so I reason that her excuses are immediately 100 percent more valid than mine.

Last Sunday though, I set something in motion. I didn't know it at the time, but heading to the gym a little over a week ago would give me the momentum to continue going, excuses be damned. Since that Sunday, I've gone to the gym  five times. That feat has not happened in months. I think I went five times total from November to January.

That's the thing about working out: The more I do it the more I want to keep doing it. Because if I stop, I don't know how long it will be until I go again. This week though, my excuses have fallen away. I've gone and not had any thought otherwise. I've gone even though it meant the earliest train I could take home was the 7:35 p.m. I've gone even though I've worked an 8+ hour day. I've gone even though I've only had 30 minutes to spare. I've gone even though the weather outdoors could not have been nicer. 

Today the weather was downright beautiful. And I decided I wasn't going to the gym. I was going to the park instead. For all my dramatic declarations of I don't run any more, I ran today. Not far, not fast. I got out there though. The weather could not have been nicer - mid 60s, sunny with a slight breeze. I made my third pass around the quarter mile track and was surprised upon internal inspection to find that I was enjoying myself. It was so nice that I did a fourth lap. And then ran part of the way home.

This is the thing I learned. I do like running. But I like doing it outdoors, on a nice day. And I like running without worrying about setting a pace or going a certain distance. When I don't self impose all these pressures on my running performance, I actually do find it quite enjoyable. So running, I have this to say to you: Let's be friends. You may never be a great love of mine, but I'll always look forward to catching up with you on a sunny day.

Not This Time

Any one who has read this blog for more than a year knows I at one point in time considered myself a runner of sorts - and that I now no longer consider myself a runner of any sort. I gave it up last year after having realized there was no need to torture myself with an exercise that, in all honesty, I hated. Especially when I have a gym membership and several fancy elliptical machines waiting for me a few blocks away whenever I want.

One of the events that triggered my letting go of running was the 2009 Shamrock Shuffle. Those of you with good memories might recall that the morning of the 2009 Shamrock Shuffle looked like this:

Something about this race always brings the crappiest weather. This year was no exception. It did snow the day before the 2010 Shuffle. Thankfully the morning of the race was just cold, wet and dark. No snow. However, having given up running, as aforementioned, my title that day was photographer not runner. It's a title I'm more comfortable with any way.

My friend Jenny came into town to run the race and did quite fantastic I must say. I, on the other hand, got what I think are some fantastic images. And I didn't even break a sweat.

This crew below was a little late. I passed them as I was on my way to try and capture the lead pack at mile three. I didn't. The lead pack runs so much faster than I walk.

Even though it was cold and rainy, it helped me get this cool shot (below).

I learned that photographing runners isn't easy, especially on a cloudy day. There wasn't really any available sunlight and without it, my shutter was a lot slower than I wanted it to be. Plus, my lens was having a really hard time focusing on all these quickly moving, bobbing faces.

I gave that up for a bit and just tried to capture the movement.

The cool thing about the Shamrock Shuffle is that the loop pretty much shuts down. So sidewalks that I am fighting for space on my daily commute to work become desolate. The street below I walk down every day to work. There's no way I could have gotten this shot Monday through Friday.

The statute in the photo below is in a building's lobby right across the street from my office. I love how it stands out no matter the time of day or surroundings. But on this Sunday, it was a golden beacon.

Also located not far from my office is this plaza (below) with one of the famous Picasso sculptures. Again, I've always loved this sculpture, but I couldn't have gotten this clear of a shot on a weekday. The fact that a girl with a red scarf walked by as I was there was simply kismet.

I thought by the time I got downtown to the starting line that I might be sad that I wasn't running the Shuffle again. It is after all the first race I ever ran. But you know, I wasn't. I find so much more enjoyment these days behind the lens than I do pounding the pavement.

My one regret, however, is that I didn't get a photo of Jenny. I guess she's going to have to come back and run it again next year.

UNbeLIEVABLE

I was in GNC with Mike the other day. While he was getting some vitamins I was browsing the women's wellness section. It had vitamins and pills and liquids to cure and speed up all kinds of things. Most bottles I noticed displayed the following clause on their label:

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

The most unbelievable - a pill that could help its taker become more flexible. A pill that makes you flexible? I was skeptical to say the least. It's a part of GNC's WELLbeING line. A line geared towards women as evidenced by its packaging and pills. (be-HOT? be-FULFILLED? be-ENHANCED? Really GNC?)

When one of the employees asked if I had any question, I held the bottle of be-FLEXIBLE and asked, "So exactly how does this work?" His answer was a whole of lot fumbling for words that eventually lead to him admitting that yeah, he wasn't so sure about those pills. He also admitted he doesn't really sell a lot of be-FLEXIBLE.

However, if GNC had a pill for sale there called be-MOTIVATED or be-AT THE GYM MORE or GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF be-D, I might have bought it. I haven't worked out in a couple weeks now. I took the week off for Jenny's wedding (mainly because I was in Michigan), and then took the following week off the gym as I allowed myself to get back into the swing of things. That means this week I should be working out. Only I'm not. I haven't. I've told myself I was going to the gym three days in a row now. I even got out my gym clothes, packed my gym bag. And yet this morning, I laid in bed chanting to myself as my alarm went off repeatedly I have to get out of bed I have to get out of bed I have to get out of bed. I did. At 8 a.m. Far too late to cram in a workout.

I just can't seem to find my motivation. It ran away during my two week absence and has yet to return. I hope it does soon otherwise I'm sure my mystery five pounds (and then some) are going to reappear any day now on my midsection. Let's hope before they do, I'm back at it at the gym. I know one thing for sure - my motivation has to come from within. Unless GNC's working on bottling it in capsule form as I write.

UPDATED the following morning to add: I totally went to the gym this morning. Yeah me.

The Calm Before the Storm

This weekend was either the start of something good or it was the end of my social life as I know it. I just won't know which until Tuesday.

Tuesday is the day that I find out if I'm going on trial or not. Our judge hasn't quite made up his mind yet. If this case goes, then I'm booked solid in terms of weekend and evening engagements until mid-June. If this case doesn't go to trial then I get to keep my social life and hopefully have more weekends like this past one.

Chicago didn't have great weather this weekend. If the old adage of April showers bring May flowers is true then May will be in full bloom. I can't complain though because when I needed the weather to come through it did, starting with Saturday morning.

This was the second time I tried to meet some friends in the park for photos. Last time we were met with hail. This time we had windy, overcast skies, which were actually perfect. The good conditions gave me a chance to experiment and get down and dirty in the grass. Here are four of my favorites shots from the 200+ that I took.

I have to thank my friends Carly and Bun because they really could not have been better. I truly had so much fun. And I might possibly have some more of these shoots coming my way. I attended Carly's baby shower today. As part of my present, I gave her a CD with a slide show of all the images set to music. They played it for everyone and the two pregnant ladies at the shower both wanted to know if this is something I might do for them.

The other event I attended this weekend was the Ravenswood Run 5K. And dare I say it, I think I had fum. What? What's that you say, Amy? You enjoyed running this morning? Why yes, I believe I actually did. It's possibly because the weather held up and there was no rain. Although that wouldn't have mattered. Given I bailed on my last race due to inclimate weather, I wasn't missing this one - rain, sleet, snow, hail, excessive heat, tornadoes... I was going to run. Imagine how happy I was to wake up to mid-40s temps and no precipitation. The race was great in another way too. It was local. Instead of hailing a cab or taking public transit, I got my bike out of storage and rode a few blocks south.

You may remember my goal for this race was under 33 minutes. And my finish time was...

33:01.

Seriously. Thirty-three minutes and one second. Two seconds away from my goal. That's all. Two measly seconds. I ended really strong and flew over the finish line. If only I had known how close I was I would have started sprinting about 10 feet sooner. If that isn't motivation to get a Forerunner, I don't know what is.

I take comfort in the fact that my pace was 10:38 min/mile. I don't remember how I've done in previous 5Ks, but I'm pretty sure that's a personal record for me. And really my sub-33 minute goal was based on running 11 min/miles. I forgot to factor in the 0.1 mile in the 5k(3.1 mi.) race so I was still on target. All in all, I'm pretty pumped even though I finished two seconds slower than I wanted.

In a very large, all inclusive nutshell that was my weekend. Come back and Tuesday to see whether or not I'll continue with such jammed packed weekends/posts or if from then until June I'll have regular updates of how many hours I'm working each day.

Here Comes the Sun (dodo do do..)

The great thing about working weekends and 10+ hours days is that when I get a night off the free time seemingly spans an eternity.

I got home from work at 6 p.m. tonight and I didn't have to jump back online to continue working. Not tonight. Tonight was mine to do whatever I wanted.

As a bonus, tonight was the first night in three days where I didn't leave work under cloudy, rainy skies. Chicago was as sunny as could be. I didn't leave my office building from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., so I decided a post work run was in order. Yeah, that's right. Running. I still do that on occasion. And if you're curious like my mom was, no, I didn't keep my promise to myself. I did run the Shuffle on a treadmill, but I never did get in that 5 mile outdoor run. It was partially because my back started hurting again after my indoor 5 mile run. Also, I just didn't have it in me. I'd lost my steam by the time the following weekend rolled around - not to mention the weather still wasn't cooperating.

I am however running a 5k race this Sunday. My training, in terms of running, has been minimal. I've been getting more use out of the ellipticals and free weights at my gym. But today, today was a day for running.

When I got home, I right away put on my running clothes and grabbed my iPod. I told myself it would be a nice, easy 2 mile run. When I started running, I thought my pace felt a little fast, but I felt good so I kept it up. And I continued to keep it up to the end.

Sadly because I counted on it being an easy run, I didn't really try to track my time. I did the best thing I could - I added the time of all the songs I ran to.

Total: 21:24 or a 10:42 mile. But actually, it's less! The first song I ran to, I think I started running about 30 seconds to a minute in, so really my pace was more like a 10:30 or 10:15 min/mi pace. That's pretty good for a girl who hasn't run all that much as of late.

I'm not sure if I'm setting an official goal for my Sunday morning race, but I'd really, really like to come in under 33 minutes. I'm thinking it's doable. You know, as long as it doesn't snow.

Race Day

This photo is what one might call foreshadowing.
I woke up this morning, ready for my race. I felt good about my training and knew this 5 mile race was a distance I could run. The only question in my mind was how fast?

True to the weather forecasters' prediction it started raining last night. I was sitting on the couch and could hear the wind whipping outside and rain hitting our front windows. It wasn't a pleasing sound, but I'd run the Shamrock Shuffle before under similar conditions. In fact the past two times I've run this race, it's been cold, windy and slightly raining at points. What I've never done is run this race under ideal conditions.

When I woke up this morning the first thing I did was walk to our front windows. And before I even opened the blinds I thought to myself it seemed a bit bright. Sadly, this is the view that greeted me:

The sidewalks were not even visible. How can I run five miles when I can't even see the sidewalks? The snow accumulation was what ended up making me decide I was not going to run the race that morning. To be honest, I hadn't really been looking forward to it in the first place. The friend I was supposed to run the race with as of Thursday told me she couldn't. I understood though. She's also a co-worker of mine and unexpectedly had to fly yesterday to Texas for a trial - a trial she only found out about four days prior to going, so I don't fault her. Without a companion though it meant I was taking the train downtown by myself, checking my gear by myself, warming up by myself, running the race by myself and then heading back home, by myself. I didn't want to go it alone, but I would have. Until I saw the snow.

This would have been my third time running the Shuffle. I've finished it twice in the past and know this is a distance I can run in a little more than 57 minutes. I'd trained and had no qualms about being unable to finish this race in at the most 57 minutes. I was running this race to see how much time I could knock off my previous two tries. Looking at the snow, I knew there was no way I'd be able to run this race the way I wanted. This wasn't a dusting of snow. It wasn't only making the ground a little wet. It looked like it had been snowing for a couple hours before I woke up, and NPR informed me that the snow was expected to continue until around 1 p.m. So the entire race I would have been running in the snow. In the thick, slushy snow that was already 2 inches thick when I woke up.

(The railing on our back staircase covered in snow.)

I knew I wasn't going to do this, so I made a deal with myself. I would run that day, my five miles, at the gym on a treadmill and next weekend (weather permitting) I will run 5 miles outside. So instead of starting the Shamrock Shuffle around 9:30 a.m., I hopped in Mike's car at that same time and drove to the gym.

I ran my personal (indoor) Shamrock Shuffle in 56:31. That time is about one minute faster than the past two time I've ran the Shuffle. It gives me hope that when I do my outdoor run (hopefully) next weekend, that I'll be able to come in under 55 minutes. That would put me at under an 11 min/mile pace, something I'd be proud of.

It does kind of suck though because I really wanted to be done with this freaking race. Almost there, but not quite yet.

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me

It has been confirmed twice over now. First on weather.com and now on WGN's 9 o'clock news cast. Sunday's forecast: low of low 30s, high of low 40s, windy and possibly snow showers in the morning.

Snow in the morning.

As in when I'm running my race.

It's not uncommon for Chicago to get snow in March or even April, but really? Really Chi-town? This weekend's going to suck royal ass weather-wise. No doubt about it. And the kicker is this past weekend was gorgeous. It was in the low 50s and sunny. Perfect weather for running. Not the case for this coming weekend. Which in case you missed my saying it before... is going to suck royal ass weather-wise.

Running Update

Well I did manage to get my butt in gear. I did my final long run before the Shuffle. All that's in front of me now are a 3 mile run, a 2 mile run and then the 5-mile race on Sunday. And honestly, I can't wait for it to be over. I'm ready to train on my own ground and workout how I want to work out. I'll still run, but I can guarantee it won't be three times a week.

I have mixed emotions about my run today. It was 4.5 miles, but actually I ran a little more than that - 4.62 miles according to Gmaps Pedometer. I missed a turn and unintentionally added some mileage. And my time? 56:38.

Here's why I have mixed emotions about this run. To see 56:38, I'm upset. From my last 4 mile run to now I added close to 10 minutes, but I only added a half mile. (actually 0.6 miles). That means my pace was much slower. This time also means that my goal of running this race in under 50 minutes is darn near impossible. I do believe the race day adrenalin will help to propel me a little faster and a little farther, but I don't see me knocking 7 or 8 minutes off my time. It doesn't seem feasible.

But here's why I am pretty happy with my run. First, I did it. Secondly, it was easier than my 4 mile run. I hesitate to say it, but it was almost enjoyable. I felt pretty good throughout and walked a whole heck of a lot less than I did with my last run. I really only stopped when I reached stop lights and street crossings. I did stop to stretch my legs twice, but I never really walked just for walking's sake. I am also proud I did this run because my quads were hurting before I began. I did a stair stepper machine at the gym on Thursday, and my muscle soreness really only kicked in today.

So I'm mixed. Honestly, my one prevailing emotion is relief. I am choosing to focus on the relief I will feel next Sunday when this is all over.

Surprising Myself

My back is feeling better. Thanks to my mom and my friend Kelsa's advice, I iced it and that appeared to be the cure.

Because my back is in better shape, I had no reason to skip my 4 mile run today. So I did it. It was a beautiful day for a run - 58 degrees and sunny. I told myself there was no need to push too hard. I wanted to make it and if that meant walking part of the way, I would.

I was a little surprised because based on my post run calculations, I kept a pretty steady 11:34 min/mile pace. Not terribly fast, but I also walked a lot. Probably close to at least 0.5 miles of walking total. That means when I was running, I was running faster than 11:34. It gives me hope that my speed actually is increasing. And with two weeks until the Shamrock Shuffle, I might just have enough time to work on my endurance. Things are looking up. Much like the roads I run on, my relationship with running has its own peaks and valleys.

And I Used To Walk Six Miles to School, Uphill, Both Ways

The Wii Fit was wrong about my age. I'm not 30. I'm pretty sure I'm inching up toward 65 years young. I had to postpone dinner plans with a friend tonight because of my back. My back. Oh my aching back! Really. I have back problems at the ripe old age of 28. That doesn't seem right.

It started Tuesday morning. I went for my standard Tuesday morning run (per training guidelines) and was to run three miles. I started feeling a little yucky and ended up running only a mile and walking on an incline for another half before I called it quits and went home. I then proceeded to call into work and spent the next five hours in bed.

Later that night as I was laying on the couch I started to notice a dull pain in my lower back. I kept shifting my position but couldn't get comfortable. At that point, I chalked my pain up to all the sitting on did on the train the previous day and all the sleeping I did that morning. I just needed a good stretch, I reasoned. I stretched by moving slowly and really focusing on my lower back. I felt better, but I couldn't help noticing it didn't alleviate my pain, particularly when I arched my back. There was a definite sharp pain each time I did that.

Not sure what to make of the mess in my lower back, I decided to skip the gym yesterday. At the end of the day though, that dull ache was still there, just sitting on my tailbone. What else was there to try? Our massage chair. I sat in it for about 15 minutes trying to really focus on my lower back, but the chair just couldn't reach it right. I went to bed, my back not feeling any better.

Today was a running day. Given my poor performance on Tuesday, I wanted to make up for the 1.5 miles I didn't run. My goal this morning was 3.5 miles. I didn't know how my back would react, but I hoped running might loosen it up. I felt fine while I was running, but my back felt progressively worse as the day wore on.

By 11:30 a.m., I was googling "lower back pain from running." A ton of Web sites came up listing various reasons running can lead to lower back pain. Those that seemed most likely for me were tight hamstrings, weak abdominal muscles and poor running posture. I cannot touch my toes. This in ability is a direct result of my extraordinarily tight hamstrings. I've never actually worked on my running posture which leads me to believe it could use some improving. As for the abs... my six pack is nonexistent. I don't think I have a pack to speak of.

Knowing what I now know, I'm going to try a few things. The first will be becoming more conscience of my posture when I run. That's more than I have ever done in terms of my running posture, so easy enough. Secondly, I am going to start doing hamstring stretches at least 5 times a week. I would say every night, but I know that won't happen. Lastly, I'd like to start taking Pilate's more than once a week. I think my weak midsection would benefit from the extra core strengthening. I need to check my gym schedule, but hopefully I can find another class to take besides the one I go to on Monday mornings.

So that's the plan. I hope it works because I really don't want to be a 28-year old who regularly complains about her achin' back. Right now though, I'm going to try one more remedy I saw online. I'm going to take a bath. I'm going to soak my old weary bones in the tub and when I'm done I'll watch my stories on that there talking box. You young whipper snappers try not to make too much noise. And stay off my lawn, sonny!

I Take the Good, Not the Bad

This weekend I went home to Michigan for some official Maid of Honor duties. While there, I decided to try out my mom's Wii Fit this morning before catching my train back to Chicago. I've played the Wii, but hadn't tried the Wii Fit. After my initial set up was and about 30 minutes of strength, balance and aerobic exercises, I learned the following:
- My BMI is normal, but on the high end of the normal range.
- In order to reach the ideal BMI measurement of 22, I'd have to lose 14 pounds (that seems a little unreasonable to me).
- When standing up straight, I tend to lean slightly forward and a little to the left.
- My Wii Fit age is 30. (Mike delighted in this because it cuts our age difference in half.)
- I weight six pounds less than I do at the gym.

I could focus on the fact that the Wii has aged me, but instead I'm going to look at the "fact" that in the span of a weekend where I did not exercise, I lost six pounds. Something tells me that by the time I head back to the gym tomorrow morning, I will have gained it all back.

Three Mile Run

I had my first three-mile run today. My training schedule so far has only dictated two and 2.5 mile runs. Luckily though, I didn't have to do it alone. My friend and co-worker Sarah is training for a half marathon, and she had to run three miles today as well.

I picked up Sarah this morning, and we headed to the Lake shore path. I didn't think I'd be running outside in early February, but today's weather was perfect. Instead of the weather hoovering between 10 and 20 degrees (as it has the past few weeks), Sarah and I we greeted with nice mid-thirties weather. She brought her Garmin forerunner so we were able to check our time, pace and distance constantly throughout our run.

I'm happy to say we finished, but I'm not happy to report our pace. Sarah assured me that I should be proud of the pace I ran and the distance we went. Our overall time was 34: 38 with an average pace of 11:33. That's about my average pace, so it's good that we didn't go any slower. I, however, looked at that time and thought I have a long way to go before I reach a 10-minute mile pace. And I'm not certain if it's an attainable pace to reach by the time I run the Shamrock Shuffle in late March.

I do have some hope though. This was my first time running three miles in about 10 months. It's also been a while since I ran on pavement. And in my standard treadmill training I've been getting faster. I ran 2.5 miles at a 10:36 pace on Thursday. So I can get better. I will get better. I just have little faith in myself that I'll be able to run 5 miles in two months and finish that race in under 50 minutes. Stupid 2009 goals.

My negative attitude may have been brought on in part by something that rocked my running confidence yesterday. My mom called and was telling me about her work out regimen with her new Nintendo Wii. For the first time, she did a free run on the program the other day. During the free run, the player runs in place for 10 minutes and when the 10 minutes are up, Wii informs the player how far they would have gone in that time had they been running on a track. My mom's distance - 1.6 miles. 1.6 miles! That's roughly a 7 minute per mile pace. I don't doubt my mom was able to do this, but it was a little disheartening to think while I was running today that theoretically my mom (a woman who've I've seen run maybe twice in my entire life) would have passed me and probably doubled back and passed me again.

Torture Device

My Shamrock Shuffle training has officially begun. This week I managed to drag myself out of bed at 5:45 a.m. four out of five days to work out. In accordance with my training schedule, I did a Pilate's class on Monday, ran on Tuesday, ran and strength trained on Thursday and did this class called Hot Bod on Friday. If I run Sunday (which I will!) I will have completed my first week's training without missing a beat.

But let's back up to this Hot Bod class. I had taken it a few times before. It is a mix of cardio and strength training os it fits perfectly into my training schedule. And the few times I'd taken it, I really enjoyed it.

I had never taken this class on a Friday morning and at about 7 a.m., the mid-point of that class, I never wanted to again. We used the Bosu. It is a harmless looking device, but after an hour of using it in every way imaginable I hated it. And the instructor. We ran onto it, jumped on it, balanced on it while doing crunches, stood on it while doing free weight exercises, did various types of push ups on it and, my favorite, the modified down up. We would pick it up only to put it down, splay our legs behind us into a plank position and then pop to our feet, pick the Bosu up over our head and repeat. It was hard. I hated it. All 60 minutes of it.

I left the class trying to think of what else I could do on Friday mornings because at that point anything seemed better than attending Hot bod again. My calves were so overworked from standing on that freaking thing that I've been shuffling around my home like a cripple all morning.

But a strange thing happened. As the day went on I kept marinating on how hard I thought the class was but proportionally became increasingly proud that I did it. Even stranger still was my growing desire to do this class again and do it better. The strangest thing though, I think I will.

My Absent Week

Where on earth has this week gone?

I'm sitting on my couch. It's Sunday night, and I can't believe I have to go to work tomorrow. I was just at work. On Friday. And on Saturday. Yes, I went into work yesterday morning. Yuck. Saturdays at the office always throw off my internal clock, but I saw no way to avoid going in. I had too much to get done this week even though I worked 8+ hours each day including one that was closer to 12 hours. This past week I had a lot of bonding time with my office but not really my home.

As a result, I haven't left home at all today. I've done a lot of couch bonding, some movie watching, Internet surfing and I talked to my mom about Christmas plans. My family may go skiing! I did manage to peel myself from the couch long enough to clean, fold laundry, make dinner and get out Christmas decorations.

We've got a few Christmas trinkets here and there and my mini-tree is lighted and decorated. I was a little hesitant to put it up after the melee that ensued last year. This year though, the cats will have a hard time reaching it. It's on the top shelf of a six foot tall shelving unit in our living room. And for those of you who remember, the baby Jesus is on the tree. A few months after I took down my tree last year, I found the baby Jesus under my couch. Oscar will hopefully have no contact with the baby Jesus this year. Amen.

As productive as I managed to be during my day at home, there was something I did not do. I didn't work out. I'm not beating myself up too terribly though. Even without making it to the gym this weekend I did still accomplish one personal goal. I worked out before work three times this week. I went Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, and I'll be going again tomorrow before work. I plan on this being my regular routine. It amazes me to say it, but I think the reason I didn't make it this weekend is because I couldn't go either Saturday or Sunday morning. I am a morning gym attendee, and I would have it no other way now. I still want to hit my four days a week gym goal so what I may end up doing is trying to go four days during the week and taking the weekends off. Thoughts? Encouragement? Discouragement?

So now with the waining hours of my weekend, I'm going to lay out my gym clothes for the morning and read my new Health magazine. Speaking of Health magazine, if you don't have a subscription and would like one, let me know. I can sign up four people for free when I renew right now. If so, leave me a comment and I'll get in touch with you.

Hope you all had relaxing, fun weekends. Or you know, maybe instead of fun and relaxing, you added a new member to your family. Congrats again, Lexi! I'm overjoyed for you all.

I Even Had Time For Coffee

You know what I did this morning? I worked out! (I am so proud of this that, yes, I am blogging on my lunch hour.)

And I did not puke and/or pass out. Not at any point did I feel puke-y or pass-y out-y. It was fantastic. I even surprised myself because I was able to do more than I expected. I didn't make it to the yoga class on time, so instead I did 30 minutes of cardio and 20 minutes of strength training.

The crazy thing is I got home at a time that's earlier than the time I usually get up. I even had time to make coffee before I caught the train.

So all in all, it went fantastic. Better than expected. Dare I say this may become routine? Yes, yes I dare. This may be the start of a routine for me.

A Monumental Try

I am going to attempt to do something tomorrow that I have only attempted a few times before. The very thought of it scares me, makes me a little nervous. It's hard, I hate it and one time while attempting it I almost puked and/or passed out. What is this you ask? What is this huge scary, thing I plan to attempt?

I, Internet, am going to work out tomorrow morning. (Gasp!)

Amy does not do morning gym exercise. I've always maintained that I would rather work out at 10 p.m. than 8 a.m. I think that still is true. The problem is I never want to leave my home come 10 p.m. to work out. It got me to thinking that I might be able to muster up the energy earlier, rather than later in the day.

My rationale for the morning work out is three-fold:

1. If I work out in the morning, I will not have time to talk myself out of working out. It will be get up and go without giving myself the time to formulate reasons for not going (other than more sleep that is).

2. The sun sets at about 4:30 p.m. these days in Chicago. Given the pitch black night I just can't say I feel comfortable riding my bike to and from the gym. And that's on days without snow. If I go early in the morning, I can take Mike's car because in the morning there is ample parking by the gym and home.

3. By getting this out of the way early in the day, things like staying late at work and making after work plans will have no effect on my gym schedule. My nights will be free to do whatever I please with them (like blogging!).

My concerns, however, are one-fold:

1. I may puke/and or pass out.

My plan right now is to wake up at 6 a.m., eat a little something, throw on my gym clothes and get to there by 6:30 for a yoga class. (I figure I can ease in the first day with yoga.) The class is an hour so I can get home in enough time to shower, get ready for work and catch the 8:30 train downtown - 8:50 if I'm running a little late. I really did not think this is something I'd ever consider. But the more I think about it the more it makes sense for my schedule.

I was talking to a coworker of mine one day and she mentioned how she can't work out at night. I said the opposite was true for me. Her response surprised me: "Oh, I used to never be able to work out in the morning. And then I told myself I'd try it for 30 days. I haven't gone back." It just made sense. How could I write off something I have never tried?

I can't commit to 30 days of this right now. But I'm committing to tomorrow morning which seems like a pretty honest start.

OK. That is all, dear Internet. I am off to get my gym clothes ready and pack my lunch. If this is to be a success, planning will be involved.

And if there are any of you out there who are morning gym attendees, I'm welcome to any suggestions (please).

Gym Goals

This whole working out consistently thing hasn't quite stuck yet. Since I joined the gym about a month ago, I have yet to go a full week without making it to the gym, so I have made progress in that sense. However, my goal when joining was to consistently go four times a week. I've made it consistently two or three times, falling short of my goal. I think the problem may be my goal though. I know I want to go four times a week but to do what? And why?

My reason for rejoining a gym was to get in better shape, but I'm not training for anything. The only time I've ever gone to the gym consistently was when I was training for a five mile race. Given that it's November now and Chicago running season is more than five months away, I can't see that being a motivator. Plus, I know I'm not a huge fan of running any more, so five months of running will not make me want to go to the gym more. It would probably be a deterrent.

Really, my motivation to stop feeling so soft. My muscles are practically non-existent. The time when I felt the most healthy and slimmest was only a couple of years ago, and I want that feeling back in the present. I'd like to lose some overall weight but particularly around my midsection. It would be nice to have more muscle tone in my legs and arms. And if I'm being really honest, I'd like to build my strength so when Mike decides he needs to roughhouse with me I can do more than pull his hair to make him stop.

'm not terribly narrow in my means of achieving any sort of desired fitness results. I have been mixing cardio with some strength training. I think I've tried every strength machine, I've used free weights as well as every type of cardio equipment - sometimes all in one outing. I've found a class I really like and hope that I'll get up the nerve to take spinning class and then hopefully get hooked on it too. I'm just trying to find right now a way to once again make my gym appearance a regular thing. To me regular means going more times in a week than not. I am trying to reach this goal, and in trying I'm getting to the gym more than I had in months. That's enough to make me hopeful that my goal isn't too far away from being reached.

Working For It

I tried to keep my promise to join a new gym Friday. Mike and I came home from work, changed, gathered our gym necessities and hopped on our bikes. The beauty of my new gym is that it is less than a mile from our home. I had been planing on this workout all week. It was the first time all week I could make it and it was finally time to start taking better care of my health.

We locked up our bikes, and as we walked in I reached in my backpack for my wallet. No such luck. In my rush to leave, I had forgotten the one thing I needed most. My wallet had not only my debit card and ID but also my last free pass, which Mike was going to use. I was angry, oh so angry. But of course the only person I could be angry with was myself.

As I pedaled back home, I thought about my commitment to get back into shape. I didn't want to let my forgetfulness best me. I also didn't want to turn right back around and pedal back there. I had lost Mike in my failed mission. His only mission now was dinner.

I was frustrated when we got home. The only way I could stop beating myself up was to go for a quick run. I told Mike I'd be back, and I'd be happier when I did. Mike, not wanting to put up with surly Amy all night, agreed to this idea, but tried to make me take a knife as protection. It was already really dark outside and running the Chicago streets alone isn't the best idea. I took my iPod instead.

As I headed out our front door I turned on my iPod, only it wouldn't turn on. I pressed every button on the freaking thing but nothing was making it display my musical options. It was dead. No doubt because I had unknowingly turned it on earlier and let the battery die. At that point, I became even more frustrated. This was yet another obstacle standing in my way of my fitness goals. I hate running without music, but on Friday that's just what I did. And as I ran I thought about how easy it would have been to cop out on working out. I had been given a couple prime example to throw in the towel and chose not to. And as I ran, I felt better because if that's not a sign for my re-commitment to working out then I don't know what is.

After my run, I came home and did some strength training exercises. In total, I biked 1.5 miles, ran .75 miles (it was a little too dark out) and did strength training for about 25 minutes. Not too bad of a start. And in keeping promises to myself, I did join the gym yesterday. I even saved $100 on the initiation fee because they were running a special this month. I'd like to think this monetary reward was my prize for not giving up yesterday.

Still Trying

It was going good. And then it wasn't. I tried to recommit myself to a healthier life and a new gym a few weeks ago. I got four free passes, and I used three of them in one week. I really enjoyed being in a gym again (especially one that has individual TVs on the cardio equipment!). I was feeling really good about beginning to whip my butt back into shape. I went to two classes, used the cardio equipment and even tried my hands at some free weights.

And then the following week hit. I had plans to see a friends' new baby on Monday, fiddle class on Tuesday, Wednesday night I worked, and then I packed on Thursday night so I could head out of town for the weekend. My life got in the way.

Now I know that's not a real excuse. If working out was my priority then it would get done, regardless of my busy life. So while on a week when I had little going on, I was able to get to the gym. When I had a lot going on, it was not.

This week, it's been more of the same. I cannot get back to the gym until Friday, so that's when I'm going. Working out on a Friday night seems less than desirable, especially when contrasted with my and Mike's typical Friday night - pizza and a movie. But this getting back to the gym has to start somewhere. My somewhere is Friday night at the gym, and then hopefully again Saturday morning.

I should mention though that I was active this past weekend. So much so that my muscles were sore Sunday and Monday. Mike and I met my family at Gintaras Resort on Michigan's west side. With a six and an eight year-old nephew to entertain, my family was on the move. We held an impromptu family Olympic games. We played tennis, soccer, basketball, rode bikes, took walks and had a marshmallow fight on the beach. It was a ton of fun, but it left me sore. And remembering that it is indeed time to head back to the gym.