My First 5K of the Year

5:00am came way too early. I really would have rather hit the snooze button indefinitely, but I forced myself out of bed. It's been a while since I've had to get up that early. So glad that I laid everything out the night before so I could pretty much just roll out of bed and put on my race clothes.

The race started at 6:45am which is really early for a 5K. Generally they are more around 8/9am. But my friends and I made it there without a morning coffee. This race, the Hot Chocolate 5K, sold out with 7,500 people. When we lined up, you couldn't even see the start line.

Start line is around the corner and up the hill

Making our way up to the start

I have to say, the workouts that I have been doing the last 30 days or so, seemed to have helped with this race. Though my face was completely flushed at the end, I survived. The course was filled with hills. I definitely didn't expect that. Though I shouldn't be completely surprised; it is downtown with some crazy hills.

Beautiful San Diego morning (downhill)

I did beat my 5K walking time by 3 minutes. It's not a lot, but it's an improvement since my injury last year. Once I'm given the OK to run again, I plan to work on getting a 5K PR from running. Last time I tried running a 5K, I think I finished in 44min. I've been working out now, so I know that I can do better. I can't wait for that day to come. But until then, I'm walking.

2011 Iron Girl 5K time: 55:26
2012 Hot Chocolate 5K time: 52:58
2012 Iron Girl 5K time: TBA in October

Thanks to my girls, Cristal and April for walking with me. They could have run, but instead chose to walk with me. That's my support system. They are awesome. And after the race, we indulged in some Ghirardelli hot chocolate and fondue breakfast.

In line for our finishers breakfast

Breakfast of champions

Me and the girls

The rest of the day I plan to relax. Take a nap and veg out.

Workouts begin again tomorrow morning.

Yoga with Bob

So as per suggestion of a friend, I decided to finally try out the yoga DVD I bought last year. It's one of the DVDs from the Biggest Loser line, with Bob as your instructor. Yoga For Weightloss. I wasn't sure what to expect. I've tried yoga twice in my life. The first time didn't go over so well. I couldn't do anything. Miss Unflexible here. And the second, well, let's just say that I slept through it. It was instructed at such a slow pace, that I literally fell asleep at the end. A little embarrassing. And I haven't tried it since.

So here we are. The day I tried yoga again. Now, I've heard good things about it. It's great for strengthening your body and helps you get back to that flexible 10 year-old-you. This DVD actually wasn't so bad. Surprisingly I got a good workout out of it. At least my legs did. They were sore from yesterday, and so when I chose to do yoga I figured it would give them a nice break, but nope. Completely wrong. It actually worked them to that shaky feeling you get when you push yourself to the max. But, it was nice to change my workout routine.

One thing I learned, I am not a graceful yoga balancer.
Did I fall? Yes.
Did it hurt? Not so much. I chose to do it in a bedroom with carpet which totally helped.
Are my muscles sore? Yes!
Will I try yoga again? Yes. It wasn't so bad.

I have to say, Jillian on Biggest Loser is totally different from her personal workout videos. She's much calmer. Still intense and pushes you even through your TV, but much calmer. Bob is the same. Sweet, caring, calm, yet motivating. Though I could feel that way because it was a yoga DVD and yoga is calm and relaxing.

Anyways, thank you, Jesi, for the suggestion. It wasn't all that bad. My legs are sore, but I feel good.

Tomorrow I walk the lake.

Butterflies for Jennie

Last year we had one of the most interesting and amazing fundraisers for Relay. Butterflies. Yes, I said butterflies. Our event teamed up with a butterfly farm where we purchased butterflies to be released during opening ceremonies instead of the usual white doves. It was a great idea. Granted the weather was overcast and chilly, so it didn't go off as hoped, but that was okay. They butterflies just hung around a while before they warmed up enough to take flight. It was beautiful.

My friend, Jennie, is an amazing person. Having been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, at such a young age, she lives life to its fullest. I am astounded daily by her strength and courage to take on each day at full strength even when she is at her weakest most vulnerable state.
I purchased a butterfly for her last year.

It was truly a wondrous experience to open an envelope and have a butterfly emerge from it. A Painted Lady. A beautiful creature, just like my friend.

And I plan to repeat this. Again and again.

This year, my hope is to get the support of all my friends who know Jennie (even those who don't) and get a kaleidoscope of butterflies to release in her honor. I think it would be such a magnificent sight to see these butterflies fly free, spreading Jennie's spirit all around San Diego.

If you would like to donate $6 in honor of Jennie or your loved one, please visit my fundraising page.
http://main.acsevents.org/goto/deborahderr

Deadline for the butterfly order is April 7th. I hope that you will join me in not only honoring my friend, but the fight against this horrible thing we call cancer.

 

Kudos to me

Since I re-started this blog and decided to regain the muscle I lost while ill, I have to say that I'm very proud of myself. Being one that doesn't get excited about exercise in general, I've pushed myself to get out of bed every morning and workout.
After these past few days, I think I now know why people work out regularly. Not because it energizes you or that it's a great way to stay healthy. But merely, it's a way to eat whatever you want and not feel completely guilty about it.
These past 7 days consisted of a lot of eating and drinking!

• Lunch and wine tasting (a lot of it) in Temecula with good friends.
• A and I have been wanting to try this restaurant, Poseidon and fortunately, I had a $50 Groupon for this place. We finally made it in a couple days before it expired. I was impressed with the food and wine suggestions from waiter, but his service lacked a little. Though I would go back again for a special occasion and try some of the other items on their menu. It's a little pricey for us to go on a regular basis.
• Alfonso's in La Jolla with A's old co-worker, Luigi and his wife. Mexican food is awesome and so are margaritas.
(Side note: Luigi is the typical American girl's dream guy. Over 6 feet, chiseled features, Italian former male model and loves to cook. He is the Italian McDreamy, ladies. I love A, but I couldn't stop myself from staring at him throughout the night. Oh, and his wife is hot too. She's American and the story of how they met is even a romance movie!)
• A food fest at a friends' place for our regular Fringe night. UH-MAY-ZING rice crispy treats compliments of Cristal.
• Sushi. I LOVE sushi and tried a new place down the road with some friends. This place had a good ratio of meat and rice. I hate places where they serve too much rice in the rolls and skimp out on the meat.

And I will most likely have a glass of wine tonight to wind down the weekend. I didn't go overboard, but I definitely am feeling like I ate more than I should for the amount of workouts I did. I don't have the drive to work out for 2 hours a day to cancel out whatever I eat, but I have been trying to get hour workouts in so that I can have that whole wheat bagel and cream cheese in the morning or go out for frozen yogurt with friends in the evening.

I'm still getting used to this new "exercise" lifestyle. But I can see that I'm happier, less depressed, and more energized.

Holy mother of sore muscles, Batman!

The boost of intensity yesterday really kicked me in the butt. Literally. My butt is sore. My legs are killing me. Muscles in my body I didn't know existed are hurting.

Don't worry, I didn't give up exercise today. I actually did the 5 mile walk around Miramar Lake. Aside from the wind, it was beautiful out. One of my favorite littles and her mom, joined me today.

Walks with friends make it that much better. And when the little one keeps saying in her adorable squeaky voice, "Silly Zoe," I die. It really is the cutest thing. FYI, these photos are from last month, but I had to share a photo of how precious Julie is.

We had a run-in with geese. They were everywhere. I actually thought Zoe would have chased them. Her prey drive at home with the crows is on full speed, but just the opposite happened at the lake. She kept her distance. Good thing, too. They were nasty little suckers. The giant geese hissed at us. They honked for food and then if you got too close, they'd hiss. Weird. And of course, I got it on film.

  

They practically took up the whole sidewalk. You'd have to walk through them in order to continue on the path. And it didn't help that a mother/daughter duo kept feeding them on the walkway.

I've been stretching a lot today, but it hasn't helped any. I drank a glass of coconut water, a glass of chocolate milk, and ate a banana after the lake. Trying to get my body filled with potassium and vitamin D. I'm hoping tomorrow to not wake up in as much pain as I did today.
I'm thinking that I might go back to level 1 on the DVD; switch off regularly between the levels so as not to overwork my body. Rebuilding muscle is tough.

What do you do post-workout to help alleviate sore muscles?

Intensity

So I upped the intensity of my workout today. And I am definitely feeling it.
I chose the Level 2 workout on my DVD. It definitely pushed me hard. I did what I could and as best as I could and for the things I couldn't do, I improvised so that I didn't stop moving. Ugh. My legs probably got the most workout. Lots of squats and lunges.

I think I need to get a heavier kettlebell so that my arms get the full workout as well. Guess I'll have to check Marshall's on a regular basis for one. I tried yesterday but all they had were 5lbers, which is what I currently own.

I'm up .1lbs from last week. Gotta keep this exercise thing going. It WILL work. Right? ...

A Slow Process

 

I know it's only the 3rd week into my new weightloss/exercise plan, but it's even more clear to me now how tough this journey is going to be. I've been working out around 5 days each week for at least 30-60min, which is awesome for me, but results so far are barely there. I became so complacent as a couch potato, granted a lot of it had to do with my health, but now that I'm back to 100% I can't stay at this weight. I need my muscles back. I know results will come later, but it's hard to see where you want to be right now and you can't snap your fingers to make it happen.

If only I had my own personal genie...

• I'd have my own personal trainer
• I would make the time to workout a couple hours a day
• I would have a personal chef to make sure I eat all the right foods
• My ankles would be good as new and I'd be able to run again

What would you do if you had a genie?