 |
November 13, 2003
MY SITE HAS GONE CRAZY! I CAN'T UPDATE HERE ANYMORE!
CHECK OUT MY NEW SITE AT: https://helentillger.tripod.com/blog/
October 31, 2003
Happy Halloween!!
My arms hurt
Last night was my meeting with the trainer guy at the gym who is giong to help me with the whole strength training, Buff Bride, thing. It went OK, I think, but I'm worried about my next visit.
I got there about a half hour early so I hopped on the treadmill and got in a couple of miles before our session. Then he walked me around the gym and showed me an A routine (mostly legs) and then a B routine (abs and arms mostly). It wasn't bad other than having to walk around the scary weight lifter types who actually knew what they were doing. I'm supposed to do these routines Monday and Tuesday so I'll have plenty of time to recover before the long walks on Saturday. Which means that I will probably wind up spending 4 days a week at the gym. yuck. I'm not sure how long that'll last.
Anyway, it all seemed good, if a little intimidating, last night.
This morning, my back and arms are all stiff. They aren't sore but I can certainly tell that they were used last night. Which is good, except for one thing: I only did one set. I'm suppoesd to be doing three sets. This buff bride thing could make for some real misrable days ahead.
Tomorrow I'm walking at Valley Forge. 14 miles on the schedule so that should be a pretty good workout. It's going to get up to 70 degrees tomorrow so that'll make for a decent walk since it'll probably still be chilly when we start out.
|
| How awesome is this medal?! |
October 29, 2003
I'm being a good girl
I went to the gym again last night. I didn't want to and I went anyway. Good for me. I only went 3 miles again but I walked fast -- up between 4.4 and 4.7 for the whole time and it was definitely a good workout. It was SWELTERING in that place last night. I can't wait until it's cold out so it will stop being so hot to work out.
I also keep forgetting to mention that I got my silly 39.3 medal. It's awesome. Giant and shiny and awesome. Take a look at the great picture!
October 27, 2003
At last, a 20 mile weekend!
I had a great weekend. For the first time in ages I don't have to feel guilty about anything. Where to begin...
Friday we went out for dinner and watched a few episodes of Six Feet Under before going to bed early. I had to get up at 6:45 in order to be at Kelly Drive for the team walk and I was really dreading the early morning wake up call even though I was anxious to walk with the team.
Since I'm really feeling excited about Disney I decided to show that by wearing my Mikey Miles Club t-shirt that I got last year as a treat from my sister. (It looks just like a Mickey Mouse Club shirt only it says Mickey Miles). I also whipped out my Mickey Mouse baseball hat since I knew it was going to be cold. I'm not at all used to doing any walking in cold weather so I was perplexed about what to wear. I went with tights, a long sleeved cool-max shirt under the Mickey t-shirt and my red windbreaker. I also was wearing "magic gloves" from Target. They're just regular gloves but they sell them 2 pairs for $1.49 so I bought a whole bunch of them. This turned out to be a good mix because while I was FREEZING in the morning by the time we were a mile or so into the walk I was able to shed the windbreaker and eventually the gloves but I never got hot.
I almost had a huge setback because on the drive downtown I heard the traffic report and that clued me in that the regatta was Saturday. If you've been reading this long enough you know that last year I had to do my 20 mile walk in the middle of the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta and it was a big pain -- boats and crowds and a big traffic hassle. I actually turned the car around and headed back towards my house but then I realized that I was being a big, fat wimp, so I did go downtown and I'm glad that I did.
The walk itself was fine, there were 2 people fresh off the Baltimore Marathon who were excited and sharing their experience and that was fun to see. And I met a couple new people who are going to Disney and walked with 2 of them (including one of my mentor charges) and all in all it was a good walk. I didn't walk fast, since I was walking with a newish person who had never gone more than 7 miles at a time, so we took it easy and stopped every now and then to stretch out, but she toughed it out the whole way and I think we finished the 12 miles in just over 3 hours. Not bad considering we stopped at the bathroom and as I said to stretch.
After the walk, I headed to to grocery store where I picked up some dinner and also the stuff to make chicken stew. (Brian and I had talked ourselves into trying to make it even though I wasn't sure how to do it.) So I spent Saturday watching TV while pulling apart a chicken. (Yuck) and then was totally falling asleep so we again went to bed early. The best part of this was that it was the "fall back" night so we got even more sleep when the clocks changed.
Sunday we went to Evansburg park and got in a really good hike. I'm not sure yet of the exact figure, but I'd say we got a solid 8 mile walk in before heading home for the Eagles game. It was great. My legs felt great, my feet are blister free, and I'm finally back on track for the marathon. What a relief!
I forgot! We also had a visit from the Halloween Phantom on Friday night! When we got home from dinner we found a big cauldron filled with candy in our driveway. The neighborhood Halloween Phantom had come calling and we have to deliver Halloween treats to two different neighbors within 48 hours. (We're actually late but had to wait until today to photocopy the phantom symbol.) So I spent a big chunk of Sunday decorating the treat bags and filling them with candy for the neighbors. I'm not sure who is going to get our treats and it's pouring rain today so hopefully we can deliver it without too much of a problem. I think we're going to need to cover them in plastic!
One last thing to note: I completed the 500 mile challenge on Sunday. I'm at 502 for the year -- so I should finish well over 500 for the year. Yay!
October 24, 2003
I finally went to the gym!
I have actually been to the gym several times. They finally let me sign up on Monday and the scheduled me with a personal trainer appointment for Wednesday night. I met with Jim on Wednesday and he gave me a lot of tips on nutrition and he promised to help me stay on track for the marathon and told me that at our next session he'd teach me how to use some machines and do that on my off days for cardio. He advised it wasn't smart to over-train before the marathon but he'd get me started and then we can change things after January if I want to. By the way -- he's a TNT alumni. He ran the Rome marathon in March.
Last night I went to the gym just to work out. I only did 3 miles instead of 4 or 5 but I was just getting used to the treadmill and I was starving. I didn't think to bring a pre-workout snack with me and by the time I hit the end of the 3 miles I was starving and decided I had to leave if I wanted time to get home, cook and eat before Survivor came on.
In other news I am officially signed up for the certification class in January. It's the day after the marathon from 8:30 to 3:30. That's going to be totally fun. Well, probably not, but it'll be neat to be official.
We have a 12 mile walk at Kelly Drive scheduled for tomorrow. I normally don't go to the walks there but I really need to get back into the swing of things and I also want to show the Disney people the race booklet & materials that I got in the mail this weekend. It's such an awesome book, I just love it. It's not as good as Aggie's cool CD from last years race, but it's pretty neat.
I need to break out a new pair of sneakers too. I probably won't wear them tomorrow but I might start using them at the gym next week and then take them out on a long walk in the next week or two. I'm currently wearing the shoes from San Diego and my backup pair are from Bermuda. Every race deserves it's own pair of shoes, right!
October 20, 2003
Foiled again!
I tried to join the gym this weekend, I really did but they wouldn't let me do it! I went to the place on Sunday afternoon (the only time I had since we had Pre-Cana and then I was walking on Sunday morning) and the old guy working the counter hemmed and hawed and eventually told me to come back during the week because the people who worked then got incentive bonuses for signing up new members and he didn't so he didn't want to waste my enrollment. very pesky!
Brian and I walked on Sunday morning but only about 4.5 miles because we had to be home to see the Eagles game. I was hoping to do a little more at the gym after I signed up but as you can see, that didn't work out.
Pre-Cana was Friday and all day Saturday. Totally lame and exhausting. More details soon on the wedding page.
October 15, 2003
Slacking off already
I haven't joined the gym yet and I haven't done one bit of extra walking. I stink. I probably won't join tonight either since I don't have my own car today. (I am a dork and locked myself out of the house and had to get Aggie to rescue me and drive me to work.)
Things are rolling along with the TNT coaching plan. Certification class in Florida around the time of the marathon, a suggestion to take CPR classes and some other random meetings. I hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew.
October 13, 2003
I'm back!
The marathon is less than three months away and it's finally time for me to stop messing around and to start getting in shape! I went to meet the Team in Training folks on Saturday for a 12 mile walk and it was great...a beautiful day and lots of fun. Unfortunately, my poor legs were not having as much fun as my brain was. I quit at 11 miles (I told myself I'd go at least 10 so I split the difference between 10 and 12 -- I really, really wanted to quit at 10!) They're still a little sore today and that's just scary. But no more! I'm joining the gym tonight and should hit it tomorrow for the first of many, many workouts.
The gym? Why am I joining a gym? What happened to my cool treadmill? Well, as you know it arrived from the shipping company and it was broken. I got them to come and get it out of my garage but now I'm afraid to buy a new one. I need to do more research, I need to have it delivered all the way to the basement instead of just to the garage and all of that is going to take more time than I have. I found a gym near the supermarket where I shop and wonder of wonders it has a three month membership plan. That will take me through the marathon and if I decide to sign up again after that, super, otherwise, I can keep the membership until after the wedding. The best part about the gym is it's hilarious name: the Gym and Tan-Line Sudio!
Another interesting note from the TNT walk is that they asked me if I'd like to become a walking coach for the team. How cool is that! If that doesn't get me motivated, what will? I don't have all of the details yet, but I will soon, and I'll share them with you when I get them. How excellent will it be for me to coach a race though, huh? I just love having something like this to keep me motived and on the right path.
I also got the Buff Brides book and I have the proper excercise equipment but I haven't managed to actually do any workouts yet. I watched the show on Discovery Health last week and the brides were such nerds that instead of motivating me to become a Buff Bride it made me think I was already miles ahead of those chicks so why bother doing anything. The show is on again tonight at 8PM so I'm hoping these two will impress me enough to get me to do some bicep curls.
I've also made a bunch of wedding plans and you can read all about them over on the wedding planning page. Book reviews will come soon -- but until then, read books by Dan Brown! |
