My day at the gym...

Today I went to the gym. I had all kinds of epiphanies and emotions, so I thought I would share them with you:

1. Keep lifting weights, and you can lift heavier weights. Wait, does that make sense? I want to share with you how it used to be: I limited myself. When I first started lifting weights, I used "The Firm". They would tell you to pick up a light, medium or heavy weight. Sometimes they would give you a range. (Example: "Time for triceps kickbacks. 3-5 pounds). So, I limited myself. 10 pounds was heavy.

Then, I got a set of 12 pounders. Wow. I was killing it then.

Eventually I got a set of 15s. Wow. Look out everyone! I stayed there for a while. I couldn't imagine going any heavier.... but I did.

I added a set of 20s and a set of 25s. That's where I stopped with my home weights.

Today, I did shoulder presses with 25s. Wow. I didn't think I could do that. I remember when I could barely get 10 pounds over my head.

Isn't it amazing to see such progress?

2. Sometimes you need a break.
After I did my upper body work, I had planned a 2 mile run. I went upstairs to the track and started running... and ran exactly 48 seconds before quitting.

I'm not training for a running event right now. All the running I do is kind of a "bonus" just so I don't forget how to do it. So I felt like it was okay to skip the run today. I ended up doing some extra stretching, which did me a world of good.

3. Diet is important.

This is not really a new epiphany. But it kind of goes with the item above. I used to do cardio workouts and longer runs than I probably should to make up for eating. "Uh oh, I need to burn 300 more calories today. I better run anyway". But, since I'm following my diet plan, I didn't need to do that. I was able to stop running and not feel bad about it. Yay!



4. I wish I could go back in time and slap some sense into my 17 year old self.

This is a little deeper than the others. While I was stretching, the song by Pink, "F'in perfect" came on. It kind of made me cry a little.

I think about how I wish I could just tell my teenage self (or my 20-30 year old self, in some cases) all of these things. I wasted so much time not feeling good enough.... and it just breaks my heart. It also breaks my heart that my kids may someday go through those feelings about themselves... and they are so amazing!


So, those were my epiphanies. Sorry to say none of them involved David Boreanaz. But I'll put a picture of him here anyway...

"Sarah, I went to the gym and got my shirt all sweaty. Because you're awesome. (Source)

Hi, my name is Sarah and I have a blog...

Some days...

This week has gotten away from me. No blog post since Monday? Madness!

So, I will now list some random thoughts in no particular order of importance:

1. I am running my 3rd and last half marathon of the season (I think). (I don't have anymore scheduled, at least). I think if I run another half the soonest would be after New Year's....

2. What is the last book you've read that you've liked? I'm looking for some fun books. I do spend a lot of time reading "personal development" books, but I like to squeeze in some pure fluff. I recently read a biography of Prince William and Kate. (I guess I should call her The Duchess of Cambridge...) I love that kind of thing...

Source

I also read "The Help" recently, and really liked it.



3.  I found this stray label just laying on the floor outside my office the other day. I think it's a sign:

4. Also, this:

"Sarah, you are pretty AND smart, even if you sometimes suck at Blogging..."

Something Something David Boreanaz

I've been absent long enough. I decided to just do a blog post where I list the random things as they come out of my head...

1. Running.

My scheduled half marathon is 2 weeks from last Saturday. I decided that might be a good reason to try to do some running. In truth, I actually had a much better running week over all last week. I ran 2 miles on Tuesday, 2 miles on Thursday and then my Saturday "long" run.

Saturday I had planned to do 8 miles. Normally on my "long" runs, I'll run 4 and walk 1. However, because I have not been running, I thought I would try to take it easy and do 3:2. Well, that worked for a little while. I ended up stopping at about 4.5 miles because of crippling side stitches, heavy legs, and thinking "OMG I can't even run for 60 seconds..".

I found this picture at Cely's blog, and I'm borrowing it because it describes exactly how I feel about running right now:

In all seriousness, I felt like I was pretty much out for the half on September 24 after my run Saturday. But, I'm going to keep going, and see how I feel next week. I may do the race with no set time goal, just to do it. I do love races.

2. Diet
On the other hand, I'm doing pretty well with my nutrition. I've been following a plan where I am eating 6 small meals a day. It's simple. It's easy. As long as I don't freak out and stress eat multiple Skinny Cow Ice Cream Bars... like I might have done on Saturday night when my kids were so needy I couldn't even watch Doctor Who....

"Unacceptable!" (Source)

But, as I got dressed in one of my few running outfits for my "long" run on Saturday, I noticed I was looking pretty good. And, my thighs didn't rub together. So, something is working.

3. Lifting
Speaking of things that are working... I am enjoying the changes I'm seeing from lifting heavier. It's like there's always this inner struggle for me between cardio and resistance. Even though I *know* from first hand experience that more resistance leads to better results, the cardio bunny is just so afraid to *not* do cardio...

But, my cardio has been minimal the past few weeks, and I'm looking pretty good.

Which brings me to....

4. The Firm

Thursday night I was up for the first of *many* nights with a sick/grumpy baby, and I stumbled upon the latest Firm infomercial.

Now, The Firm is what got me into weight training, back in the mid 1990s. These ladies were hoisting around bigger weights than I'd seen women lifting: 15 pounds for lat rows, pushups on the TOES, and weighted squats and lunges... When all I had really seen was women "lifting" 5 pound neoprene dumbbells, this was some serious weight work. I still get challenged by those early Firms.

So, what is the new program?

I didn't see any weights mentioned. Maybe I was delirious from lack of sleep. But it seemed to me the new thing is a kind of "Interval training"- work hard, rest, repeat. I'm all for that... but what about resistance?

They're also promising results with 3 20-minute workouts a week. That's 60 minutes a week. While I always say *something* is better than *nothing*... I hate these kinds of promises. You will most likely see your results from nutrition, and that's important, but I think it's misleading to tell people "You will look like *this* and only have to workout 60 minutes a week!"

There were also some Beachbody slams in there:

"I tried that other program where the guy just stands there and yells at you. In these workouts, the girls are doing them with you."

I just felt really sad thinking of what has happened to The Firm. Who's going to convince the 25 year olds of this decade that lifting weights is feminine? I guess I'll have to do it :-)

4. Kids
In other news, both my kids had birthdays, and then they both got sick. I'm that crazy mother all doctors hate when it comes to my kids getting sick. I tend to over react. Luckily, everyone seems fine (except for the teething one year old... and the four year old being jealous of the attention the teething one year old is getting...)

My son seems to FINALLY be potty trained, and I honestly never thought it would happen. I'm aiming to do it in half the time with his sister (they say girls learn faster).

5. David Boreanaz.
That's really what it's all about anyway. Well, maybe not, but sometimes I just need to go to my Happy Place:

"Sarah, you're such a good parent". (Source)

"You handle the stress of life so graciously, Sarah". (Source)

"Did I mention you're pretty AND smart?" (Source)

Random Things Wednesday

Last night, my son (who is almost 4) turned to me and said: "Do you feed your baby food from a jar? You should feed him from the Baby Bullet." 

He then spent about 5 minutes telling me all the reasons we need a Baby Bullet.
This kid may have a future in sales.

"Would you like to order a Baby Bullet?"

However, I've wanted a Magic Bullet for forever, and it's still on my wishlist.

Yesterday I went to the gym to work legs. I have to admit, as awesome as I usually feel, I was intimidated in the weight room. There are 2 squat racks, and both were being used when I got there. First on my workout sheet was "Bodyweight Squats". Well, my bodyweight (last time I checked) was 143 pounds. I don't really feel confident that I could get back up if I did a full squat with that much weight on my back.

This could have been me. (Source)

Anyway, since both squat racks were being used, I kind of floundered around looking like a person who didn't know what she was doing in the gym. I eventually sucked it up and (gasp) went over to the Smith machine.

It's pretty safe to say I hate the Smith machine. One set of squats there and I vowed to never touch a Smith machine again.

This was not me. (Source)

 After floundering a little more, one of the squat racks was finally free, so I went over and did the next 2 sets of squats with a 65 pound barbell (which was quite enough, thank you very much).

I was the only female in the weight room, and I enjoyed listening to the *seemingly quite young* males and their silly banter. Overheard:

- "My one rep max is 206."

- "My one rep max is 270".

That was a fun little contest going on between them. Read into the subtext. I dare you.

Discussing some other guy they know: 

"Can he do [workout move whose name I can't remember]?"

"I don't know, man. He's like 30."

I resisted the urge to throw a heavy (for me) barbell at them and show them that I didn't roll over and die when I turned 30. SEVEN YEARS AGO.

Ernestine Shepherd could totally whoop their butts. (source)

In the meantime, I have that happy soreness that says "I got a good workout". I love it, but running may be challenging.

What's the craziest thing you've ever seen/overheard at the gym? 

Complete Random Babbling...

Today is one of those days. The kids won last night. At 10:30 PM, I was literally begging and pleading with them to GO TO SLEEP. Perhaps I should consider using this:

[Anyone involved with CPS, please note I am joking... mostly].

So, I overslept a little this morning. Plus, I woke up with sore hip flexors and lower back. I decided in my current state that I needed a workout that was more of an emotional pick me up than a "workout until you puke" kind of workout. I decided to try "Cardio Axe" from Brazil Butt Lift. It was just what I needed.

This beautiful man had absolutely nothing to do with my improved mood. Really.

I really would like to be a better dancer. It's fun. I'm getting certified to teach Hip Hop Hustle in August, and I'd really like to do Zumba too. This workout gave me a chance to see if I could really shake my hips...

So, I got going a little late, finally got my coffee at my desk, and have had a relatively decent day filled with cataloging and organizing things. See, the fun part about being a mommy and a librarian is that I at least have some control over my world in library-land. Some.

In other news, I'm currently suffering from a terrible case of Harry Potter fever. Since I am a full-time working mother of 2, I'm thinking the midnight showing tonight would be completely wrong and irresponsible... so I'm wondering when I'll get to see it...

In the meantime, I'm loving all this:

(I found all these through The Blog Entourage, who have had a great Harry Potter themed week).

Accio Coffee! Just seeing if that would work...

And one more, because I love it:
(Please note there are spoilers if you haven't read all the books)

Awesomeday

If you'll remember from last week, Wednesdays have been renamed (at least by me) "Awesomeday". So, Happy Awesomeday!

I'll do an Awesomeday recap tomorrow, but for now, I just wanted to post a bunch of random things:

I never seem to have the right utensils to go with what I'm eating.

Yesterday, I went for a run on the track, and had a Christmas miracle.

All y'all with your 7:00 miles can stop laughing at me. This is the fastest I've ever run, and I'm pretty excited.

I had kind of a breakthrough, where I felt like I was really "RUNNING", instead of just plodding along. I was light and free, almost flying. Dude. And that was only at a 9:20 minute mile. Imagine how I'll feel when I go even FASTER!

--------------------------------------------
I am absolutely nuts about Extreme Couponing. It's kind of ridiculous, but I love it. I don't have delusions that I'll get $1000 worth of groceries for $3.00, but I do know it inspires me to learn how to coupon enough to cut our grocery bill down (which would leave me more money for other things, like new running gear and workout toys)....

Check out this lady. Awesome...



Wow. I fantasize about reaching that level of organization.

So, I hope everyone had a wonderful Awesomeday!

Do you coupon? Can you help me learn?

What's your favorite day of the week?

Oh, and feel free to post something awesome about your day below!

Three Tangent Tuesday...

Happy Tuesday! 
Let's list 3 totally random things about ourselves so we can see how weird we all are learn about each other...

1. I love broccoli. I really love broccoli. I love to eat it raw, or lightly steamed with lemon juice, or in a stir fry. I just really love it, and can't understand why some people don't.


2. One of the benefits of not having my own car is that I can put my makeup on while being driven to work. If I had to drive myself, it would really mess up my morning routine.


3. I'm looking forward to the day I don't have to put the "long" of "long run" in quotation marks. I'm not sure how long the run has to be for me to do that. Right now it's a little over 4 miles. Maybe at 10...


What about you?

Three Tangent Tuesday...

I got this idea from my buddy Janae at The Hungry Runner Girl. Let's all list 3 totally random facts about ourselves so we can see how weird we all are learn about each other...

1. I am completely obsessed with Starbucks Via Mocha, so much that I spill it all over my desk, I'm in such a hurry to get it in my mouth...

(This is actually not my Starbucks Via Mocha... but doesn't it look pretty?)

2. I'm turning 37 this month, and I'm totally okay with it. Really. I never, ever think, "Holy moly, when did I get this old?"

3. I brought my curling iron to work today and fixed my hair at my desk in between cataloging items. I did this without a mirror, because I'm super cool. Also, I just couldn't deal with a bad hair day today.