At Least Five Hours

Brad is a cyclist, and he's probably the fittest person I know. But when we met, over 11 years ago, he wasn't. I mean, he was always in reasonable shape, but he was not the muscley-legged, cardiovascular anomaly that he is now. In the past 6 years or so, his body has completely changed shape.

I want that.

I have recently discovered that I have a rather high body fat percentage, even though I'm technically only about 1-2 pounds overweight. In discussing this last night (my desire to change my body shape dramatically), Brad suggested I up my time spent working out to at least five hours a week for now. And that, as I get fitter, I should increase that time. Since I have begun to work out in the mornings during the workweek, I have a limited amount of time that I can spend at the gym and still make it to work on time. So my plan is to get three hours of cardio in on the weekends; at least an hour and a half both Saturday and Sunday.

This Saturday, I hiked at our beloved KSF for an hour and a half, and yesterday I spent the same amount of time on various cardio machines at the gym -- treadmill, elliptical, stairmaster. I nearly fell asleep during the Vikings game last night and, walking up stairs is a bit of a struggle. But Monday is my rest day, so hopefully I'll bounce back by 545 tomorrow morning. I have a date with my favorite treadmill.

Back on the Wagon

After a few days of indiscretion, no more diet soda. It's been nine days and I'm not craving DC anymore. I see that as a triumph.

Also? I ran outside yesterday, with my dog, for the first time in months. It was a beautiful, sunny winter afternoon, 32 degrees, and I still had about 40 minutes of sunlight left when I got home from work. So I layered up, clipped Ilsa's harness on, and we headed to the park. We basically had the whole park to ourselves, except for a HERD of deer that were feeding in an open field. I wish I would have had my camera. It was glorious! I'd forgotten how much I enjoy running outdoors, especially in the winter.

The treadmill at the gym tonight is going to be even worse!

2010 Goals

In order to get things you've never had, you need to do things that you've never done. Right? Here goes:

1. Quit drinking diet soda. I'll miss you, my sweet friend! I'm on day 4 already and holding strong.

2. Run a 5K race. I'm looking at two options right now; the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure in May, and the Charleston Distance Run in September.

3. Ride 50 miles. At once. On my bike. I am saving money for a real road bike, but until then Brad has agreed to put slick tires and a rigid fork on Black Betty so that I can get started.

4. Take on more responsibility at work.

5. Lose the 20 last pounds and become as healthy as I possibly can be. I swear to god, I make this resolution every damn year. I'm hoping that this will be a sort of by-product of all of the training for numbers 2 and 3. I think I've got the healthy eating part down, I just need to work out more.

6. Visit my friend Melissa and her awesome husband and daughter (my god daughter) in DC at least 3-4 times in 2010. I hope to start this one next month -- they're only a 5 hour drive away!

7. Visit my friend Devin in California. I love this girl and my wedding was the first time I've seen her in nearly 2 years. Unacceptable!

8. Eat dinner at the dining room table. This is definitely a hard one, as Brad and I usually end up balancing our plates on our knees as we watch Jeopardy. Classy.

9. Pay off debt, and start saving money for a house. I can't wait to be free of the debt stranglehold!

10. Super secret goal that I'm not sharing with anyone yet. But I'll let you know what it is when it happens!


Tonight we're off to the home of one of Brad's cycling friends for a NYE celebration. A room full of new people? Sounds like the perfect opportunity for me to be a litte uncomfortable.

Happy new year!

Pretty Good Year

I can't believe it's almost Christmas and that 2009 is nearly over (side note: what are we supposed to call this decade? The 2000s?). This has been probably the best but most change-filled year that I've had so far -- moving to yet another state, starting yet another new job, and getting married of course!

I'm starting to think about my New Year resolutions for 2010. Every year I make them and I'm usually about 50% successful. Last year, I resolved to send birthday cards to all of our family members (I only missed 2 -- my father-in-law, and my brother-in-law the marine, who kept forgetting to give us his address). There was also a second resolution that I don't remember.

I'm thinking that, this year, I will resolve to better my health in some way. I eat pretty healthfully most of the time and I work out regularly, but I could do so much more. Seven years ago, I resolved to lose weight and I did -- nearly 60 pounds. Six years ago, I resolved to quit smoking and I did. It seems that I am the most dedicated to health-related resolutions. I've been eating a lot of cookies and sweets lately, as usually happens this time of year, and I feel really disgusting when I eat a lot of sugar. So I've been kicking around the idea of going refined sugar- and artifical sweetener-free in 2010 but that seems a bit daunting. Cutting down on sugar and only eating sweets on special occasions sounds easier, if I can keep the "it's Friday! That's a special occasion!" attitude at bay. I'd also like to run a 5K this year for real. I've been thinking about that for a while now, too.

Stay tuned for a public declaration of resolve.