Julie Says... I Like It Hot (some like it not)

Did I say cold? Whee-doggies, it's been hot!! Nothing warms my heart (and other bits) as much as record highs. The Weather Channel has a special alert up for our area; "TEMPERATURES TODAY ARE EXPECTED TO BE 15 TO 18 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL." Oh, be still my heart. Saturday, my handy iPod Touch weather app reported that the high was 97, although today's high is predicted to be only 87.

Sigh. Heaven.

So, um, I've been running, right? Riiiight. Nah, I'll do it tomorrow.. or maybe the next day... someday I'll get around to it. Do you see the counter on the sidebar? It says 291 days. Two-hundred and ninety-one. That's a whole bunch of days for anyone, least of all a procrastinator like myself.

I'm actually dying to run. What, say again? You heard me. Dying. To. Run. Because I have a birthday gift in the mail that I cannot wait for!! But you will have to, because I'm not telling yet. Surprises are much more fun to give than receive. This is the best of both worlds. I get to receive (my gift) and surprise (you). Trust me, I have a feeling I will say more about this gift than you will ever really want to hear.

One of the blogs I regularly read is written by Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers. I thoroughly enjoy his writing, as it combines many things I am passionate about (leadership, writing, and leading life in balance with your beliefs, to name a few). In 2007, he challenged his employees to run a half marathon with him. He met his goal of having at least a quarter of his employees (about 135 people) take the challenge. This post from a year ago shares testimonials from the people who participated in his second marathon challenge. If you're looking for a little inspiration, this ought to do it. The word cloud attached to this post contains just a sampling of the words used in these testimonials.

My favorite: "I have done a lot of things in my life but next to the birth of my daughter and being saved, this was the most exciting feeling I have ever felt."

How you could not want to share in that kind of experience?

Beverly says... Crickets... Crickets...

I am not doing very well at this blogging thing.... crickets. Let me share a conversation I had with my sister this week over email:

Julie: Who's a blogger? You are! Where are your posts? :)
Me: Who isn't running - I am! Who is avoiding it? This girl! I will write a post.

P.S. Julie said our conversation reminded her of this hysterical interview with the stuck up girl from Real Housewives of NYC: http://www.imnotobsessed.com/2009/04/10/kelly-bensimon-in-harpers-bazaar Oh her name is Kelly Bensimon. If I had never heard her name pronounced by her or entourage I would pronounce her last name Ben-Cy-mon. Cy-mon, like Alex's husband's first name. (Wow, I need to go out and run and stop watching this show.) Anyway, her name is pronounced Ben-se-Moan. It is her name and she can't help it but it irritates me to no end.

Yeah... that is all I have to write about today, the fact that I am not writing. For some reason I have completely derailed myself from everything. All I have done of late is walk and started the couch to 5K, and then started the couch to 5K. Where do things stand now? I need to start the couch to 5K plan. sigh. But there is good news! Spring is making an appearance this weekend in Boston. I even heard the number 70 mentioned. Last year it didn't reach 70 until June. Also, I have Monday off from work. It is a holiday, Patriot's Day. Otherwise known as Boston Marathon. I am going to spend the weekend hiking, couch to 5King, and other outdoor activities.

In other news, I start my tap dance class tonight with my friend. I took swing dance lessons with him years ago and we constantly argued. Of course he doesn't remember this. He was the teacher's pet and she was always using him for examples leaving me without a dance partner. He would then come back to me and expect me to know all of the moves. I would get so frustrated. I am hoping that tap will be different since it is an independent dance. Julie, remind me I said this when I am ranting about how he is doing so much better than I am and I want to smack him.

In summary, April equals a rocky start to the marathon training but Spring is around the corner and I am trying to get back on the train.

Julie Says... Bah, Slumbug

Where'd we go? This is not a good way to start. Sister? Hello??

In the past two weeks, my progress towards running has been nil. Am I ashamed of myself? Eh, yes and no. For one, my body is not run-ready. I knew that before starting, but at least I have proven to myself that I wasn't stalling (okay, maybe a little). For the rest of it... that false Spring start threw me off. It has been rainy and cold. I don't do cold. I won't feel guilty for that. I have still done yoga nearly every day. I feel like that is going to help me tremendously in the end. I can feel my strength and flexibility increasing steadily. I also did a meager quantity of yard work. That counts for something, right?

What I (we) have accomplished in the past two weeks is to make plans towards two trips. Beverly has a conference-thingy in Raleigh that is library-related, so I'm going to join her there. I get the opportunity to network (and maybe learn a thing or two), and Beverly gets a ride home to retrieve her car. Anything that can help me get a job is a mood booster. Mood boost = more energy = more exercise :)

The other trip is less certain but far more exciting with the prospect of white sand, blue water, little umbrellas, and exotic food. The good news is that I shudder at the thought of bathing suits in public (both on myself and others, strangely). Dread of public nakedness = more exercise. :)

Until next time... here's hoping for more sunshine... and one big guffaw to mock the one up north. Oh, I meant to say sympathetic groan... really :)

Julie Says... Aslan's Bite

We're just getting started and already I feel like a negligent blogger. You'd think someone who wanted to be a writer her whole life would be more interested in writing than fiddling with the technical stuff. But I can spend hours tweaking code, playing in Gimp, or exploring widgets. I'm sure there is something to be learned there; I don't feel like thinking about it today. (As a side note... while I write this, I can hardly concentrate on what I mean to say for obsessing over such details as "it's not proper to begin a sentence with a conjunction, or is it?" or "is that the best use of a semi-colon?" Hmm).

I thought I'd follow-up Beverly's post with my own disclaimer. In the interest of full disclosure, I know Beverly isn't going from the "couch" fitness-wise, and I have been flirting with yoga for about a month now, but neither of us are currently runners, and I in no way can consider myself to be fit. Although I spent a good decade of my life being forced to run, I have never thought of myself as a runner. As a matter of fact, I have almost always completely despised it. HOWEVER. This is a part of the therapy. Did you know the first time I ever ran with headphones was last week? I'm nearly 30 and worked out with music for the first time in my life excepting the random aerobics class and jodies.

In Book 3 of the Chronicles of Narnia, "The Horse and His Boy," the proud war horse Bree, despite the urgency of their mission, refuses to go as fast as he is capable. Despite Bree's experience and great ability, it is noted that "one of the worst results of being a slave and being forced to do things is that when there is no one to force you any more you find you have almost lost the power of forcing yourself." Let's just say I can relate.

Which brings me to my current training plan... the heart rate monitor. Through a fortuitous accident, I own a Polar heart rate monitor. Genius! All I have to do is strap it on and off I go with a completely objective measure of my effort. Today, I set out to do 30 minutes of effort at 85%-95% of my MHR (about 160 to 170 beats per minute). Notice I said "effort" -- not "running" not "walking" not "jogging" -- just effort. How this works out in reality is that I start off at a moderate run until my heart rate is in the target area and try to keep it there. Inevitably, my heart rate creeps higher and higher, so I back off to a trot or a walk. When my heart rate starts to dip into the low end (160), I start running again. When it gets above my target (170+), I walk again. I don't have to care about how far I run or how fast I run. I just watch my wrist. Amazingly, I feel much less worn out after running than ever before in my life. No bargaining with myself ("if you sprint to that telephone pole, you can walk for the next 3 telephone poles"). No slacking off. No pushing myself to the point of puking. And no guilt. Hey, research says this is the most effective way to workout. Working above my target heart rate is a waste of effort, so I don't have to feel guilty about walking in the middle of my workout... as long as I keep the heart rate in the set range.