50% Off

First I'd like to report that I'm over my whining back to my spunky self. Whew!

I got on the scale this morning and am pleased to report that I am back to 20!  Yep - 50% off just in time for Black Friday.  This means that I have about 20 (give or take a few) left to go and I'm back to where I want to be.  Wow!  

I recognize that heading into the holidays moving down the scale isn't going to be easy, but I'm ready to take it one day at a time. 

Right Now

I started writing a post about how I missed class Monday (which I will be making up on Friday) due to work and how I'm struggling to find balance...blah - blah - blah

I changed my mind on posting it, however, because one of my goals for this blog was to be real and honest.  While that post was both of those things, it's not how I'm feeling right now.  Right now I'm grumpy, frustrated and in pain because in the middle of a great workout this morning I f'd up my hip flexor again.  I hoped maybe it was just a little twinge, but by the time we were done I was in a lot of pain and I knew it wasn't good. 

Don't feel too sorry for me - it's nothing that a lot of ice and a little rest won't fix. It does, however, really piss me off because I feel like every time I get momentum I end up hurting something and it pushes me back down. I know that what I need to do - have to do - is just jump back up again, but sometimes it's okay to just sit and pout, right?  Okay, maybe not.


It's actually been awhile since I've had an injury, so I probably should've expected this would happen, but it doesn't come at a welcome time.  The holidays are around the corner and exercise such a key stress reducer for me, not to mention all the necessary calorie burning (egg nog, anyone?). And I'm heading home to White Bear in less than two weeks.  I was kind of hoping to drop a few extra lbs before then.  Silly, I know, but true.

I also came to the conclusion this week that my body is just not ready for the 10K I was planning on doing on Thanksgiving Day.  I'll still be running that morning, but only a 5K.  M, my dad are going to run/walk it.  My BFF (the beautiful, skinny marathoner!) and her family are joining in and so is another childhood friend, so it will be  a blast.  But I still can't tell you how much I hate that I had to back off one of my goals.   

Strength

I write a lot on here about physical strength, but I think emotional strength and strength of character are extremely important aspects of a person's make up, too.  I was blessed this weekend with the opportunity to honor a very good friend whose strength I admire, and it got me thinking about my own.

We spent Saturday evening at the American Cancer Society Pavilion Ball, where my friend Chrissy was honored for her tremendous strength during her fight against breast cancer this past year.  We were all pretty dumbfounded when we got the news of her diagnosis.  She was only 39 years old, had three young kids and was a strong, active person.  Chrissy is the kind of person who does more in a day than most people do in a week.  This certainly couldn't be true.  But it was.  And within a few days the words mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation became a part of our every day lives.  

True to her self, she took the disease head on and fought it off with extreme toughness and dignity.  She barely slowed down through hundreds of appointments, chemo, radiation, and the regular craziness of running her family's daily life.  We lectured her about taking it easy sometimes, but knew also that keeping busy was something she needed to do for herself.  

When her hair started to fall out she didn't mourn the loss - she threw a head shaving party instead!  In support her husband shaved his too.  (And she kindly requested he not do that ever again).  At a birthday party one night while dancing with friends Chrissy took off her wig because it was getting so hot.  She remained without it the rest of the night.  I remember thinking how gorgeous she looked - and how courageous she was. I couldn't help but wonder if I was in her position, would I be able to be that strong?

Below are a few pics from Saturday night.  As you can see, Chrissy is doing fabulous and looking even more beautiful than ever. We had a fabulous time celebrating her strength, courage and her life!

Halloween

I'd like to be able to say that all that Halloween didn't have a negative effect on me but I'd be lying - something I'm not so good at.  It's actually not all the crap in the girls trick-or-treat baskets that's killing me (they got a lot of stuff!) but rather the bowl full sugar on the dining room table that's killing me.  

You see, we didn't actually get one "official" trick-or-treater on Halloween night. We live in a neighborhood full of kid that is actually inundated with "drop-off trick-or-treaters".  Though this is the 3rd year we've lived here and we've had very few in the past, I somehow thought this year would be different so despite my initial attempt to steer clear of things that I knew I'd eat by buying non-chocolate containing treats - I not only purchased the Swedish Fish and Sour Patch Kids I thought I'd never eat (but realized I LOVED!) but also a few small bags of Snickers and Milky Ways.  What a mistake.

We did get two "unofficial" doorbell rings, of which I gave out a handful or two to, of course.  There was KK - who managed to fool me despite the fact that she lives in this very house - and M and her BFF who came all the way from her house on the opposite end of the neighborhood where they were having a birthday party.  I figured that since I'm so elated that her BFF moved in to our neighborhood last week I had to reward that a little.  As I am related to both ringers, however, I can't actually consider either part of the "official" count.  

So, as of today it's Halloween 1 - Amy - 0.   

Swim, Bike, Sleep

It's Monday, which means I got my butt kicked on the bike this morning.  I was a few minutes late to class because the kids didn't have school today and I actually had a wake KK up at 9:15 - which never happens (post-Halloween sugar coma?). I almost skipped class to let her sleep, but then I thought better of it.  Damn me and my public promises.

Then this afternoon I took the girls and a few friends to the new Smith Aquatic Center.  It's a nice pool with a great kids area, two water slides and a decent diving well.  One of the bonuses of having swimmers for kids is that they don't need (or want) me to watch them, let alone hang out with them in the pool.  But they are only 8 & 10 so I have to be there. So, what do you do when you're in you swimsuit at the pool, you don't need to be chasing little kids anymore and cocktails aren't an option?  Here's a crazy idea - how about swimming?  

I won't lie.  Even after all the miles I've logged running and biking over the past few months swimming laps wasn't easy.  Truthfully it was hard. I was winded after my first 6 laps.  I continued on, however, and completed 34 (with periodic breaks to check that the kids were still alive - I did have the neighbor kids, too, afterall) which is about 1/2 a mile.    

What are the chances that Hyam's kids, who happened to be at the pool at a birthday party, remember to tell her not only that they saw me there but that I was actually swimming? Because the way I see it that was a bonus workout - I deserve a little extra credit for it.

And as for the third leg of today's triathlon - [[sleep]] - I just swallowed my Lunesta and hope to be accomplishing it very soon too.  Good night!