Wednesday, June 23, 2010

TT Contest Week 6: Something In The Water?

Half way done already! This week's workouts went well, but nutrition was sub-par. I was really busy with work and was off-site so I couldn't bring my lunch the way I normally do. I did bring some almonds for a snack, but there were a few things I just couldn't control. Workouts looked like this:

Sunday - 3.37 miles (34:20)
Monday - TT AAA, Workout A
Tuesday - Pace workout 6x400, totals: 4.3 miles (50:00)
Wednesday - TT AAA, Workout B
Thursday - 3 mile easy run (30:14)Friday - TT AAA, Workout C
Saturday - warm up, 5K "pseudo race" (29:25), cool down, totals: 4.29 miles (44:59)

RABBITS, SQUIRRELS AND FISH - OH MY!
As I was out running on Saturday, I noticed how many rabbits were in the neighborhood. They were all over! Usually it's the squirrels I see all over, but this spring it's been bunny rabbits. On the subject of squirrels, however, I have been seeing a number of blonde squirrels. Usually they are gray around here, but I've seen 3 or 4 blondies - and in different places in the neighborhood. So either there is something in the water, or somebody is spreading around the gene pool, if you know what I mean (wink, wink).

And speaking of something in the water, on last Wednesday my husband took the kids to the pet store for a new fish to replace Lily who passed away last week. Before they even went to the pet store, my son decided the fish should be named "Lily" and my daughter wanted to name it "Spots". So they went to the pet store and a picked out a silvery fish with one orange spot on it's head. And so "Lily Spots" was brought home and placed in the fish tank with Dorothy. On Saturday when I went to feed them, they were both dead. I was absolutely devastated. Even more than the kids, I think. Dorothy was a very hearty goldfish. Yes, she was 3 years old, but she was perfectly healthy! I have 2 theories:

1. Lily Spots brought home something from the pet store
2. We didn't have the air conditioning on, so maybe it got too hot and there wasn't enough oxygen in the water?

It's just very odd that they both died at the same time. I feel horrible about it!!

Finally, another water-related item. We got out the slip-n-slide this weekend and my husband had such fine form, I had to share a picture. Enjoy!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

TT Contest Weeks 4 and 5: A Moment of Silence

This past week we laid to rest our pet, Lily. She was 3 years old and really had become part of the family. My husband gave the ceremony with a tear in his eye, and as he laid her in her final resting place, my son asked, "Does she teleport to fish heaven?" After which my daughter asked, "Now she's swimming in pee-pee?"

You see, Lily is our pet goldfish. :)

She was named "Lily" because my son had trouble saying the "L" sound. Our other fish is named Dorothy. We got them both at a county fair 3 years ago. That's a really long time for a "fair fish" to live! I think we will need to buy another fish now. Dorothy is looking a little lonely.

The past 2 weeks have really gone fast. I began my half marathon training and Week 4 looked like this:

Monday: TT Hotzone Workout A, 2.3 mile easy run
Tuesday: OFF
Wednesday: TT Hotzone Workout B, short 2 mile pace workout
Thursday: 3 mile easy run
Friday: TT Hotzone Workout, 20 minute "High Intensity" run
Saturday: 5 mile long run
Sunday: 3 mile easy run

And that was the end of the TT Hotzone Fat Loss workout. During Week 5 I began TT AAA Abs workout (AAA stands for Awesome, Amazing, Axcellent) and I really like it so far. I chose it because there aren't any of the more formal intervals and so I thought it would be easier to fit in pace and stride workouts. Instead of treadmill/bike intervals there are a mix of bodyweight intervals, extra supersets and circuit training. And even though it's an ab workout, there are no crunches! So Week 5 looked like this:

Monday: TT AAA Workout A
Tuesday: 30 minute tempo run, total time - 45:00, 4.15 miles
Wednesday: TT AAA Workout B
Thursday: 3 mile stride workout
Friday: TT AAA Workout C
Saturday (today): 6 mile long run
Sunday (tomorrow): 3.5 mile run


Have a great week!



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Wednesday, June 2, 2010

TT Contest Week 3: It's Tough Being An Ant

Week 3 ended for me on last Sunday. I'm a little late with this post; time seems to be moving in fast forward!

Week 3 went pretty well overall. Nutrition was decent, and workouts went well. I got a little off track over Memorial Day Weekend, but overall things went well. So far, I am down about 3 lbs and 1% bodyfat. I have made a few changes in the past couple weeks. First, I started eating lunch later. Then I started moving back my afternoon snack. Finally, we started eating dinner later. We used to eat dinner around 5-5:30; now it's closer to 7:00pm. This has really helped me cut down on my evening snacking.

This past Monday we grilled on our new (nearly finished!) patio. The grill actually came with the house but we never used it because it was filthy dirty. When we built the patio, we decided to clean up the grill and put it to use. I'm happy to report that the maiden voyage was a complete success! [Hopefully I'll have patio pictures soon - just waiting for the new grass to grow! :) ]

As we were finishing lunch, we noticed an ant making off with a crumb of hamburger bun that was at least the same size as he was. I was quite impressed with his tenacity. He headed off the patio due south and dragged this crumb off the patio, through the dirt, and finally all the way across the lawn to the other side of the yard. It took him 30 minutes of pretty hard work. (Yes, I watched the entire time.) At one point another ant came along and I thought I may have to help the ant fend off the intruder, but the other ant went away. I actually began to cheer for the ant to make it to his destination. And then when he got there, I promptly sprinkled Ortho Home Defense Max all over the ginormous anthill in the yard. Some days it's tough being an ant.

Have a great week!