Beet Red

I just ran 20 minutes straight and did not die. Okay, to be honest I jogged, slowly. But I did it for 20 minutes! Straight! And did not die!

Which is an accomplishment. I'm on week 5 of the Couch to 5K, and have been dreading the 20 minute run. The run 8 walk 5 run 8 was hard enough, and I was pretty sure starting today that I wouldn't make it. But somehow the 8 minutes came and I thought I could go for at least 1 or 2 more, and so did, and by that point I thought to myself I'm not letting this beat me, and kept going. Okay, if you were really in my head there may have been a few expletives in that thought, but yeah, I made it.

And now, to show how hard I worked, my face will be beet red for at least a good hour or more. Some people sweat a lot, but not me. Sure I sweat, but mostly my face just turns red. I've googled it before, thinking it was just because I was out of shape, but it turns out some people's blood vessels are just closer to the surface, and having a red face is actually a very efficient cooling mechanism. Who knew?

I think it does scare people at the gym though, since they look at me with glances of concern. I'm pretty sure they think I'm about to have a heart attack and they're going to the be the ones who have to find the AED. But no, I just turn red. Lucky me.

Um, no

Someone at school today asked me how I like the school district I live in, and when I gave her a quizzical look she said something like "Your kids are old enough to be in school, right?"

Um, no.

At least it was better than my carpool partner being asked if she lives in a retirement home.

Not so triumphant

If I remember right, my last post was triumphant, pleased with myself for my workout progress. Ah, how quickly the mighty fall.

And how quickly I become mired in my own mind. It's those darn high standards, and wanting to do things all or nothing. Life just doesn't work that way. Like today, I got a test back, with a grade much lower than I wanted or expected. It's not the end of the world. It's not even a terrible grade in the grand scheme of things, but it is definitely not up to my expectation of myself.

And tonight, this self-imposed perfectionism, in certain areas, has me bogged down. I'm sure that expectations that I can really get it all together and keep it all together aren't helping, but that's really how I would like things to go. Until my magic wand appears, I guess I'll have to live with mediocre.

That Good Kind of Tired

It's a tired kind of night, in a good way. In January I saw my doctor for my yearly checkup, and discovered I have a bit of a cholesterol issue. Part of it's genetic, as there are a number of people in my family who have high cholesterol as well, but I also knew that part of it was definitely my own doing.

So since then, I've been more or less successfully (depends on the day) making changes to both what I eat and how I exercise. More lettuce, less cheese. And far less butter, though that's still one I'm grieving. It's amazing how fondly I can think of a dairy product.

Part of what I've been doing is the Couch to 5K running program. Or in my case, jogging program. Slow jogging program might be more appropriate. And it's going well, I'm in week 4, but today kicked my butt. In a good way, yes, but I am exhausted tonight, and hopefully that means good sleep, which has been elusive lately.

It's amazing to me how things can slowly drift and change course. I did the Couch to 5k the first time I was in grad. school (it still feels weird to say that), and did the whole thing. I was in great shape, and significantly lighter than I am now. And slowly, over the years between now and then, I've become intimately acquainted with butter and bacon and have sort of forgotten my friends the fruits. So we're getting reacquainted, slowly but surely.

I'm also trying a few new things. My doctor said to limit my red meat, which is tough, since I rarely ate red meat before...maybe once a month at home. So I figured making more vegetarian meals couldn't hurt. And for the most part I'm a big fan of legumes and grains, and certain vegetables (sorry broccoli and cauliflower, we will never be a thing). I decided on fajitas one night last week, which I often make vegetarian, with just bell peppers and onions. Since I'm (re)discovering new things, I found a soy meat substitute at the grocery store.

As tempting as that may sound, DO NOT DO IT. At least not the meat-flavored ones. Seriously. It was bad. At least with tofu you know what you're getting, a flavorless, but high in protein block that can be manipulated to your own specifications. Faux fajita meat, however, had a texture that would have been fine for meat, but incredibly disgusting for a soy product. Along with icky seasoning, and some kind of smokiness that was out of place. I will not make that mistake again.

Let's just speed past the it's been a while stuff, okay? K.

I'm still not sure about this whole blogging thing as an on-going thing, but I feel like writing tonight. And I do miss writing. Catching up on people via Facebook and Twitter is all fun and good, but really, the blog thing is more about the writing for me. Which I think is part of why I stopped...I'd started to worry too much about what people were thinking.

So for now, I'll keep writing, and not worry about it.

It does feel odd, to be doing this again after a few months away. What to talk about...how about some randomness. It feels appropriate. First, I heard a kid at school the other day talking about how Tiger Woods was his idol. Good for you, college kid. Let's see....what else...I got out of town this weekend, and despite crappy winter driving, it was great to be away.

That's about it, maybe I didn't feel like writing as much as I thought I did.