Conference Lunch and Gym Update!

My speaking engagement went great today. Thanks to everyone who left comments yesterday wishing me good luck with it.  Everyone at the conference seemed very interested and I had many positive comments afterwords. I spoke during the lunch session and was able to enjoy an amazing chef salad with balsamic dressing. For dessert we were given a huge piece of carrot cake with cream cheese icing. I remembered 266's advise that the first and last bite of anything is the best and decided to have only two small bites.  As I was getting dressed this morning, my husband was wonderful with helping to sooth my last minute nerves. He is the best!  After I left the conference, I hit the gym. I was able to get in 4 slow miles, but miles none the less. I had planned to go yesterday after work, but Tommy encouraged me to take one more day off to rest my knee.Tomorrow, I am going to do a gentle jog for my last 2 miles of the week.
Last night I picked up some mahi mahi and broiled it with a bit of dill, cracked sea salt,and cracked pepper. It was so good, that I am thinking of going by and picking more up for my dinner tonight. My husband hates fish, but it is one of my favorites.Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

A Little of This, A Little of That...

A lot of things are jumping around in my head today...these are just a few.


* My knee is feeling better, but I think I will hold off running on it until at least Sunday. I only have 4 four of my 10 miles logged for this week's Labor Day Challenge Goal. I will be walking today and tomorrow to finish my ten miles...the walking with be slow, but I will get in my 10 miles.


* My eating has been horrible this week. It started off okay, and quickly took a dive bomb into quick and easy food without much nutritional substance. Today will be better, and tomorrow I can go to the grocery and stock my shelves again. With two late nights at work I just got lazy when it came to groceries and cooking. Life happens. This is a long journey with bumps in the road, you just have to keep going.

* Since I knew I wouldn't be doing a hard workout yesterday, I gave a blood donation. My finger is sooo sore and bruised from the iron prick! Ouch! But, I am glad I donated it had been over six months since my last donation.


* Tomorrow I am speaking at a conference. I was told to expect between 350 -500 people. UGH! While I was honored to be asked, I am tired and would rather spend the day with my hubby.


* Today is my last full day of Summer Reading Programs at the library. I don't start school year programs until September. With the exception of a program I am doing Monday for our city's recycling department and our End of Summer Pool Party, work should slow down a bit. I have a ton of planning to do and will be going out to do training at other libraries, but the everyday "crazy" will slow a bit and for that I am thankful.


* Next week, I think I need to journal my food.

* I am in major need of girlfriend time. A good Girls Night Out would be nice...or even better a good Girl's Night In :)


* I am glad I didn't lose all of my blog yesterday. I think it will take a while to get used to the new back ground, but I am glad I was given a reason to make a change :)


* I am so thankful for the support I have been given through this blog! You guys are a life-line for me. Thanks!

Help! I can't find my Blog!

I was trying to edit my blog, and my computer froze. Now I can find any of it! Anyone have ideas on what I can do? :( Jess

Knee

This morning I woke up with some soreness in my knee. Yesterday I walked 2mi at the gym with some major incline. I'm wondering if the extra incline may have bothered my knee. When I am running I usually use 2.0 for the include, but since I was walking I wanted to bump up the incline to keep the calorie burn high. A few years ago, I dealt with a "shifted kneecap." I did physical therapy and took a heavy dose pill of pain /anti-inflammation when it flared up. Just to be on the safe side, I am going to take a day off from the gym today. Tomorrow I will either walk at small incline or bike. I'm just going to take it one day at a time to be careful with the knee.

Training Plans

This summer I have had alot of fun with my running. I miss running outside, but the Alabama heat and humidity is just too much for me. I know I have improved my speed using the treadmill this summer, and I am looking forward to another *faster* 5k in my future. When I finish my 100 mile Labor Challenge in the next few weeks, I think I wanna start some actual training again. I used the Couch to 5k program when I first started running, and really enjoyed it. I have thought about using it again but at a faster speed for my running intervals than I did in the winter. But I wanted to know what kinds of training you guys are doing. I am a s---l---o---w....runner...and right now I am very content with my 5ks...I just want them faster. In the future, I definitely want to add more mile and eventually run a half, but for now I'd just like to finish my 5ks under 40 minutes :)

Any training plans you guys suggest?

Blogger Award

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to Brittany at Deliciously Healthy for awarding me the Versatile Blogger Award! This is my second blogger award and I wish you guys knew how excited I get when I find out about these awards! :)

The rules for this award are as follows:
1.Thank the person who gave you the award.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs. (I only have 10! I am still new to the Blog world and my Blog circle is small.)
4. Let your nominees know about the award.

Seven things about ME :)

1. I won a contest to name the new baby Gorilla at the Little Rock Arkansas Zoo in 2006. I was invited to come for Mosi's debut at the zoo, but was in a wedding that day. I still haven't met the little gorilla I helped to name...but definitely one day!

2. I really want a bread maker! I am not a big bread eater, but I love fresh wheat bread. My husband doesn't think I would use the maker enough to justify the money I would spend on it...but I still really, really, want one.

3. I LOVE minor league baseball. Prior to meeting my husband, I only remember going to 2 games ever...and they were both major league games...and I remember being bored at both. BUT I LOVE every minute of the minor league games. The atmosphere, the players, just everything about them !This year we have visited 7 cities to watch games. My favorite team is the Jacksonville Suns!

4. I love being a children's librarian...and credit my career to having to do 2 volunteer hours for a high school club. I chose the library to do my volunteer hours, and never looked back.

5. My Dad's funeral was 10 days before my wedding day. My Dad planned my wedding and passed away the day after we finalized the last bit of planning...I did not want a big wedding, but my Dad wanted it for me. My beautiful wedding was the last gift my Dad gave me...it was perfect...except for him not physically being there.

6. I was recently approved to be a volunteer with the Miracle League of North Alabama. I will be assisting children with physical and mental limitations, so that they can play baseball. I am very excited for the fall season to start!

7. I have tachycardia, which means my heart skips beat and then races to get back in rhythm. This sometime makes exercising challenging. But I have truly fallen in love with physical activities over the past few years. I feel better when I am more active.

Now to pass on the award.... You should definitely check out the following blogs!

All About the Bottom Line

Big Steps to Take

Diminishing Returns

Does this Blog Make My Butt Look Big

Everyday Grace

Fitness: A Journey Not a Destination

Half of Jess

For Real This Time

Losing Ethel

My Jog Blog

Half-Way Point and Not Giving Up!

This morning I got in a 5k on the treadmill. (1mile at 5mph, 8 quarter-mile intervals @ 5mph/3.4mph..and then the final .10 @3.4). It was a nice way to start the morning. These 3 miles put me over the half way point for my Labor Day Challenge. This week when I was catching up on my blog reading, I realized that the blogger running the Labor Day Challenge had quit blogging. Honestly, this was a really tough blow to me. Of course, I exercise for myself, to help me gain a better fitness level, but this challenge had really inspired me and pushed me to get in 10 miles per week no matter what...because I wanted to complete this challenge. If it weren't for the challenge, I know I would have slept in a little longer last week at the hotel instead of pushing myself to get to the hotel's fitness room and get in 3 miles on the treadmill. I know there would have been many days after work that I would have just gone home, instead of stopping at the gym to get in at least two miles. When I realized that the blogger wasn't there to see my success in her challenge...in the challenge that had helped me focus on my exercise in a time when I normally slack off of exercising (Summer is my busiest time at work, and I usually slack during my Summer Reading Program months), it really broke my heart. I worried about her...what had happened in her life to cause her to quit blogging so suddenly, without even a good-bye to her readers. Was she dealing with a pressing family issue...or maybe even worse...had she given up on herself, and on her weight loss journey? This journey is tough, some days you just wanna throw your arms in the air and say "I QUIT!" I wanna eat whatever I want without thinking twice about it, I wanna not pack my gym bag, I wanna go straight home after a long day! But we can't... we've gotta keep going...this journey is forever! And we are worth it! We deserve healthy bodies that are going to keep us going into our golden years! We deserve the rush we get when we finish a hard workout after a long days work. We are worth the time and effort this journey takes because we deserve the best life has to offer!
I am half-way to my 100 miles by Labor Day...and I will keep going. I will make it! Maybe the blogger is still reading blogs, and will see this post, and if so...I hope you won't give up either! You can do this! Today is a new day....our day to succeed!

Tuesday's Mid-Day and a Virtual 5k

Yesterday, I did a mid-day workout because I knew I would be too tired when I got off at 7. For the past few weeks, I have used Tuesday as my off day, but Monday we were so tired from the weekend's wild travel and driving home late from Atlanta that I just couldn't leave the house to get to the gym. I rearranged my gym schedule for this week to include the Tuesday mid-day to make up for Monday.
When I got to the gym ( around 2) I thought I was ready... I would put in a quick two mile jog and get back to work. But when I got on the treadmill, I felt terrible. I struggled to make half a mile and then had to do intervals to complete the 2miles scheduled for the day. And honestly, I thought about giving up when I reached the 1 mile. When I left the gym I felt so defeated. I knew it wasn't hunger, I had sipped on water all day, and I had gotten plenty of rest Monday. I didn't know what had gone wrong with my workout. When I got back to work, I even commented to a coworker that it was my worst run in MONTHS! I felt terrible about the workout all day. Around 9PM I started my period (3 days early). I am hoping it was just PMS that got the best of me at the gym. I have 2 more miles scheduled today but will do the full two miles in quarter mile intervals.

In other news, I thought it might be fun to do a virtual 5k with any of you that might be interested. Basically, we will pick a day and everyone with do a 5k (run, jog, walk, whatever) on their own either outside or on the treadmill. Then you guys will email me your times and a little recap of how you felt. I will randomly draw a name from all the participants and send a small prize :) What do you guys think? Anyone interested?

Pep Talk to Myself...

I am sitting here in a wonderfully comfy chair in the hotel room trying to talk myself into getting down to the gym to hop on the treadmill. We have to check out in 2 hrs and 15 minutes so if I am going to get my weekly 10 mile goal in...I NEED TO GO NOW! I don't want to have to play catch up all next week...because I don't know all the distraction next week could hold. Hubby is still in bed... I can do this...( heading to change into workout clothes )...

Update! Got my three miles! Finished 10 miles for the week! It wasn't pretty, but it's finished. (Two half-mile intervals, 8 quarter-mile intervals- 5mph jogging/3mph walking)

Wild Week Catch Up....and I Won a Car!!

This has been a crazy wild week! The library is in full swing with our Summer Reading Program and this week in anticipation of the Midnight Premiere of Eclipse, I held a Twilight Lock-In for my teens at the library. The event turned out wonderfully, but it was alot of work on top of the work that usually goes into a summer day at the library. The event also had me at work from 8am until Midnight with only a very brief hour break to pick up lunch Tuesday. When I fell into bed Tuesday night/Wednesday morning I was totally exhausted. That exhaustion held me all the way through Wednesday and I just couldn't get myself to the gym after work. Thursday after work Tommy and I drove up to Nashville to catch a Triple A baseball game, and the Friday we left work early to head to Rome, GA to catch some Single A games. When booking our stay...I was so excited to find a decent priced hotel with a fitness room and pool, especially since I hadn't been in my gym since Monday night. This morning I got in a 2 mile jog on the hotel treadmill and plan to do another mile tonight before bed...and 2 more in the morning to complete my 10mile a week goal I've been maintaining for the 100 Miles Before Labor Day Challenge. YAY! I'm also wanting to hit the pool at some point today. Next week SHOULD be more of a normal week for me...maybe.
In other news, I won a car last night!!! :) It was Used Car Night at the baseball game we went to last night and every inning a used car was given away based on a drawing from your seat number. AND I WON! Every other winner went home with a car that included an engine and battery...but I was still excited with my win :) * Just my luck *