New Gear

This weekend I spoiled myself and bought some much needed new workout gear.

I have probably the smallest ears you have ever seen- seriously. They are so small that normal headphones or ear-buds do not fit. 

Check out my new headphone! They work great and don't fall off! Behind the ear is the way to go.

  








 

When I swam in the reservoir for the triathlon I quickly realized that my swimming goggles were too dark and constricting. Not ideal for a triathlon with people flopping all around you! The new goggles I bought are clear with wide lenses. They are perfect!

7 Miles and still no Cojones

Today I ran the farthest I have ever run... 7 miles!!! 

Tonight when I got to the gym I knew I was going to run, but the question as to how far remained unanswered. I him-hawed in the locker room taking my sweet time and I stretched extra good on the treadmill trying to delay the unanswered question: HOW FAR AM I GOING TO RUN TONIGHT.  In the back of my mind I knew I wanted to see if I could run 7 miles. This weekend there is a 10k somewhere in Springs- that I don't plan on running- and deep down I wanted to prove to myself that I could run in it if I grew some cojones. Finally, I pressed the start button and said to myself, "I'm going to run 7 miles tonight."

And I did! I ran 7 whole miles! My pace was about 11 minutes; not to hard, but not to easy. I ran for 1 hour and 15 minutes WITHOUT STOPPING. My legs actually felt great and my breathing was spot on. Thank the Buddha for a Duke basketball game and The World Series of Poker to keep my mind occupied. I love days like this when running feels easy!

I then rewarded myself with some me time in the sauna. I love the sauna after I run. The sweat drips off of me and the hot temperatures burn my nose hairs. However the people who also visit the sauna are very interesting! 

This week I have worked out twice. To meet my goal I have to workout at least 3 more times. I am a little bumed I am going to have to workout over the weekend to meet my goal, but Preston is playing in a pool tournament in Pueblo so at least I won't have any excuses.

The nutrition side of my goal is not going so well. This is so hard for me! I hate cooking and by the time I get home from the gym I am too lazy to cook or think of what I am going to prepare. And to make matters worse I can't decide if I am okay with eating meat and cheese or if I want to try and cut it out of my diet. AAHHH! 

At least I ran 7 miles today. I love days like this when running seems easy. I will bask in my glory until next time when running 3 miles seems like the hardest thing on earth! This is why I have a love/hate relationship with running!

Fitness/Health Action Plan

A couple days ago I made my 2011 race calendar. Now the next step is to set some realistic fitness/health goals and then create tangable action items as to how I am going to achieve these goals.

Since the beginning of January I have allowed myself to "workout" willy-nilly. I know that if I want to reach my 2011 fitness goals I needed to create a plan on paper not in my head. I need to decided how many days a week I'm going to workout, what my training schedule is going to look like and what my eating habits are going to consist of. The last step is to decide how I am going to measure my progress and how often.

2011 Fitness Goals
* Be in the best shape of my life
What does this look like?
- The Number on the Scale
- Body Fat  
- Defined Abs
- Muscle Definition
- In Shape (faster time in triathlon)
* Compete in all the races on race schedule
*Goal weight 
*Do the Incline
*Do the Steps at the Air Force Academy
*Run Jack Quins at least once

If I achieve all 6 of these goals I will be one happy person!

Workout Plan
*Workout 5 days/week
*Good balance between cardio, core and weight training

~Action Item: create workout schedule on paper

Diet
*1 cheat meal per week
*Drink 4 bottles water per day
*Incorporate Green Tea into diet
*Cut back on pop
*Count Calories, Eat to Live, Michi's Ladder?

~Action Item: decide on diet, plan out meals on paper

[Side Note: creating a plan is hard work and a little intimidating!]

Measuring Stick
*Track weight
-Record weight every Friday
*Take Measurements
-Record measurements the 1st of every month
-1st measurements must be taken no later than Saturday
*Visual Aid
-Create workout/meal calendar: cross off days I workout/stick to diet

Bribery Never Hurt Anyone
*127
-New dress pants
*125
-New necklace
*123
-New shirt
*120
-Las Vegas clothes shopping trip

FREE, FREE, FREE

I totally rocked it today in the Coupon World. I finally had a manufacturers coupon match up with a grocery store's sale. The end result... FREE TOOTHPASTE!!

Here's how it worked.

I found a .50 cent coupon for a tube of Colgate toothpaste in the adds. I then saw that Kings was running a sale on Colgate toothpaste for .98 cents. I took my one tube of toothpaste and coupon to the cashier. At the register I got an additional .48 cents off. I really have no idea why I got the register added bonus. All I can come up with is maybe Kings doubles coupons or the Coupon Gods were trying to get me hooked on couponing.

With the grocery store sale price of .98 cent and the manufators .50 cent coupon and the additional register .48 cents coupon the toothpaste cost me $0!

Getting FREE toothpaste today made me really really happy! If I was a pro-couponista I would have had 50 Colgate manufacturer coupons and instead of 1 and came home with a ton of free toothpaste. I still have a lot to learn.

Race Calendar: 2011

Ashley and I officially have our race schedule set for 2011! Our goal is to run one race each month starting in March and ending in September.

The one exception is the month of May. Three major events are taking place in May- my little sis (who is all grown up now) graduates from college, Preston and I are going on vacation to... you guessed it Las Vegas and last but not least we have camping spots reserved at Pueblo Reservoir for Memorial Day! All of these events leave little to no room to train for a race.

At the beginning of the year Ashley and I talked about running a half marathon. We thought this would be our big 2011 fitness goal. But after reviewing our schedules, the half marathons available in non-freezing months and evaluating our true love to hate passion for running we decided to veto the half marathon. Maybe next year.

In its place we added... WARRIOR DASH!!!! This obstacle course type race will go down in Hollis/Fetter's history and be talked about for decades. Why do you ask? This will be Preston and Josh's first 5K!

I am already super excitednervous for the first race in March. It's more enjoyable and a little less nerve-racking to start a race with a pack of friends, let me know if you too are planning on running in any of the races!

The worst in class

This evening I was completely out of my comfort zone.  


It involved this:

In this setting:

And me trying to do this:

I have never felt so uncoordinated and rhythmically challenged in my entire life! I hate being out of my comfort zone and the worst in class, but at the same time it makes me try harder and dig deeper. You know what, I think might try this crazy class again. But the next time with Ashley so I'm not the only fool tripping over the bench and facing the wrong direction.  

To Coupon or Not to Coupon

Preston and I watched the Extreme Couponing show on A&E about a month ago. Like so many others who saw the show, I thought I can do this and save a tone of money along the way.

A month later reality has set in. Couponing is hard work and takes a lot of effort. To save the big bucks you have to couple the coupon you get in the newspaper with a manufacturer coupon. The trick is finding the two coupons at the same time or running across a store that is having an awesome sale on an item you have a coupon for. This is exhausting just talking about it! 

My grand scheme was to get a ton of items for almost free and then donate them to food banks, homeless shelters and send them to our troops. Unfortunately I honestly can't see myself spending the amount of time needed to research the deals of the week, finding the matching coupons and then shopping for the items.  Preston and I are going to have to find another way to give back.

I think I have finally come to terms with not being an extreme couponer. I realized it's not my passion or priority. I'm okay giving up this short lived hobby. 

But I do want to know- is anyone else having success with couponing?

May Your Dreams Come True

On January 1, 2011 I signed up for Chalene Johnson's 30 Day Challenge to Master Organization and Achieve Your Goals. I have finished the program and come away with some amazing tools and habits. 

I look forward to January 1st every year. I get giddy inside with excitement. For some reason this is the one time of year when it feels okay to dream big and think about what you really want and not feel guilty about your dreams or think they are stupid and far fetched. The new year gives us all a fresh slate, a new set of goals and a new future. 

I get frustrated when I hear people say oh I don't set resolutions. Well I bet you those same people don't set goals either. To make your wieldest dreams come true you have to set goals and monitor them and work on them. Success or fortune doesn't happen overnight. You have to map out a strategy and work towards it. 

The other day Preston and I were talking about children.You know the pro's and con's of having children and how our life would change and what that would look like and if that's what we want. The conversation turned into how fun it would be to teach our child the important life lessons. I said I want to teach them that no dream is too big. And that with planning and well defined goals that any dream can be achieved. 

This conversation led to an ah-ha moment for Preston. Preston said you know I was thinking about a goal of mine and I didn't want to tell you or say it out loud because I thought it was silly or maybe even too big to achieve. 

Turns out his goal wasn't silly. It's going to take some planning and time to achieve, but it's possible. The take away is dream big and tell someone. Once you state the goal out loud the chance of it happening is more likely.

This challenge has reinforced the importance of goals. It has taught me how to identify my "push" goal- the one goal that if I achieve all of my others goals will fall into place. Chalene has shown me how to keep a productive and closely monitored to-do list on my iPhone, which is probably the most helpful tool I have come away with. 

In the 30 days that I have been doing this challenge I have become more focused. I feel that I have a system in place to track my goals and help me set to-do items that will move me closer to my goals. This challenge has also helped me at work. I feel more organized, I'm not forgetting to do things and I know exactly what needs to be done that day.

Chalene's Push Goal for this year is to have 100,000 people complete her challenge. Because Chalene has taught me so much I want to give back to her by sharing her challenge with you because I think it will be worth your time. Her challenge is totally free. Go to www.30daychallenge.com to find out more.