Wednesday Workout Update and Woohoo, My Garmin is Here!

But first (swivel, Julie Chen-style), Jenny is making me post a disclaimer about all of the gross dead animals under my couch: I have two cats and obviously they are bringing in their treasures. And hiding them. Laurie asked "didn't you smell them????" - um, no...but then again, I live in a house full of boys, so there are lots of strange smells around here. (We're just going to pretend that the animal graveyard has been there for at least two years (which is even grosser when you think about that) because that's how long it's been since any son has lived at home.) BTW, if I recall correctly, I think my Grandmother didn't like hearing the word "gross" and she probably would have been really grossed out by this entire paragraph, not to mention the whole dead animals thing.

On to the update!

Sunday: Holy cow, was it ever hot and humid. We were at the park by 7:20 am, and the air was thick - I'm just gonna call it like it was: Hot Fog. Geez, it was bad - 80* plus high humidity...after nearly 18 years of living in Texas, I'm used to heat and humidity, but this was exceptionally bad. I had planned on doing two quick miles - like in the 10 minute range - but no. I slogged through the first half mile, thinking all kinds of oddball thoughts, when I became aware of the fact that I wasn't hearing any music - and that's when I realized that I forgot my iTouch - Doh! I made it through two miles, but it was not at the pace I was aiming for. Oh well - at least I ran, right? And I felt better about not having a good run when Brad (who is training for a triathlon) mentioned on Monday that he had an awful run Sunday morning - an hour earlier than I was out - said he felt like some of his clients who go on and on about "I hate this" "why am I doing this" - lol, I think it was funny for him to reach that point. But really, that's how bad the conditions were.

Monday: Fun times - we did a team workout in cardio - as a group, Linda had us do two miles on the treadmill, 1800 revolutions (not sure if that is the correct term) on the elliptical, 200 push ups, crunches and squats, and 100 tire flips. These workouts are fun because we work together to complete everything, and if one person is stronger on a certain exercise, then they take over that one while everyone else hits the other exercises. The elliptical is new and I'm a bit awkward using it - think it will just take me some time. Shoot, I didn't know how to walk, much less run, on the treadmill when I first started working out! The tire flips were wild - first of all, the tire was wet and dirty, and as you've seen in these pictures, it's not easy to lift up - you are pretty much putting your entire body into it (the bruise on my left thigh is proof). Kathleen and I flipped the tire back and forth - and I wish I brought my camera so I could show you just how filthy we got! My yellow t-shirt was black, as were my hands, arms, legs - I even had dirty sweaty water run into my sock! Now, I'm glad I wasn't going anywhere after this workout (sometimes I have to go into work for a staff meeting - that would have been lovely), but I have to say that getting down and dirty was kind of fun, and I can now see the appeal of those Mud Run obstacle races!

Tuesday: After last week's spectacular four mile run, both Jenny and I were pumped up to get even more miles in - plus we implemented the "will run for food" plan by meeting at the Smoothie King parking lot and then carpooling to the parking lot at the park so we could run back to Smoothie King. However, we didn't plan for Hot Fog - it was 82* and 79% humidity at 7:30 am - which translated into a drippy sweaty energy-zapping run. We made it to Smoothie King (geez, how many times can I write that in one post?) but it wasn't pretty. And it was only three miles - next time we will have to run completely around the park before heading out onto the street to you-know-where. Once we had our post-run refreshments and had a chance to sit down and chat, we realized how funny it was to be disappointed that we only ran three miles - when just a few months ago, we would have LOVED to run three miles! Luckily, it's not always this bad with the heat and humidity, so who knows - we may just have an awesome run next week!

Wednesday: Woke up with a rumbly tummy and cold sweats, so I decided that I had better A) not expose my workout peeps to anything should I have a bug (I am not sick); and B) stay home and not stress my body should it even be thinking about getting sick (I am not sick). Do you think if I keep saying I'm not getting sick it that will make it so? Positive thinking, right?

Garmin update:

Thank you for all of the Garmin input - I ended up ordering the 305 (decided I would probably regret spending over $100 more for something smaller and cuter, but missing some crucial features) and it arrived yesterday (of course, not in time for the morning run, but oh well). I encountered some huge obstacles once I decided on the 305 - namely, that my bank put a block on all online debit card transactions for consumer electronic and pharmaceutical purchases - so not only could I NOT buy my Garmin, I couldn't buy my drugs, either (<---kidding on this one)! Apparently bank card fraud is running rampant at the moment, and this is their way of protecting everyone. And while I appreciate that, I couldn't believe that it was not.possible.at.all to order the Garmin with my debit card - oh, and have I mentioned that they don't even sell them in my town? So that option was out. Luckily, I have a couple of sons with credit cards, so I got Max to make the purchase for me (thanks, Max!) - it feels so clandestine, though! But now my sweet new toy is here and I can't wait to take him out on a run!

I've named him Ricky Bobby - because I wanna go fast (and I love Will Ferrell)!

Ricky Bobby came with a lot of stuff - looks like I have some learnin' ahead!