I ran a few times this week. I meant to go to a class on Thursday morning, but I didn't get motivated enough to go. I missed Wednesday's run with the girls, but ran Keolu Loop on my own on Thursday evening. On Friday Nate and I stayed in Waikiki at the Sharaton Kaiulani Hotel (thankyou Myia!). We ate dinner at the Pikake Terrace, it was an All you can eat Steak and Shrimp meal. So we ate so much that after dinner I thought I might puke or explode. We took complete advantage of the All You Can Eat aspect. During dinner there was a mediocre music and hula dancing show. It was pretty cute. In the morning we ate at the Pikake Terrace again, we had a coupon for the buffet breakfast (again, thankyou Myia). We again, ate until we thought we might puke and then laid out by the pool. It's funny taking a "vacation" in Waikiki, laying by the pool with the sound of traffic in the background when you have a perfectly good ocean beach a mile from your house. But it felt good to read and then doze off. After the nap we jumped into the pool which was too cold to actually want to stay and swim. We walked around Waikiki briefly and headed home.
This morning I was going to meet Ananda for a run (I had a feeling she was going to sleep in). I ended up running out to her house and then running the loop twice and ending at Aoloa St. I tried running with a bladder, the bag Myia gave me is really good. It was pretty heavy though and I definitely sweat a lot. I think it slowed me down a little. At the same time it was nice having water readily available. I may look into buying a pack made specifically for running that only has a pocket for the bladder and is made of lighter material. It was nice running a longer distance, I haven't done it in a while. After the first three miles I actually started to feel pretty good. The last half mile was killer though. I really wanted to stop. I need to start my runs earlier in the morning. By 9:30 it was already pretty damn hot and the sun was out full blast.

Back in Action

This weekend Ananda and I both rolled out of bed at 7:45 in the morning and met to run. The original plan was running Keolu Loop from her house and then to the YMCA where we would enjoy some relaxing yoga. We decided just to run the loop and then we drove over to the Y and did the yoga class. Kevin wasn't there, but the lady who usually covers for him (gets her left and right confused) was much better than usual. She was very upbeat and the class felt almost easy. After the class I felt how hard I had really worked. Particularly in my arms. They were so sore. It felt good to do some kind of cross training. Yesterday evening we met to do Lanikai Loop and let me tell you, give Ananda some techno music and she turns into a world-class sprinter. I gave her my mp3 player and we started running and all of a sudden Ananda was up in front of me. I kept checking my pace, like, am I running slow or is Ananda just kicking it in. I kept right behind her and just checked my pace every once in a while. Ananda ran the loop in 24:44 and I followed right behind with 24:47. This is only surprising because Ananda, who kicked my ass in the half-marathon after not running for weeks, usually has a much slower pace. Anyway, that's the fastest I've ever run the loop. It felt really good. Well, that is, after we started walking for a little while. We jogged to the Kalapawai Market after and then we did some pullups and pushups. Today I'm not sore at all.
Since I finally joined the gym I'm going to go to some kind of class this week, I'm thinking the 8:00am boot camp.
I've been drinking more water during the day and I can definitely feel the difference. I also am steady at 133. Have been for a while. I can't wait to do some kind of kick-ass cardio class and see how that affects the scale.

Life is getting in the way

Went for a few runs since the last post, Ananda and I ran last Saturday morning at 8:30. We only did the loop, but it felt really hard. I think it was humid and neither of us was very stretched out or hydrated. Then we visited with Joanna for a while. We ran again on Monday, we did the loop and then we all ran to the Kalapawai Market, although I don't think anyone felt that great, then we did some pullups and pushups. Wednesday we parked over by the end of the beach towards Kalapawai market and ran out for 15 minutes and Ananda and I followed Denby on a circuit route back to our start point. A little over 3 miles. It seemed like a lot longer since I've never run that path before. Saturday morning we plan on running Keolu Loop and then possibly doing Yoga afterwards. I am looking forward to yoga. It's been a while.

Work has been pretty hectic. I can handle the actual amount of work, but I've been getting really frustrated with how things are run there again. Some days I love my job and other days I am so exhausted and just completely done with it. I know, Myia's going to comment and say, put your resume in at other places. I don't know why I can't bring myself to do that. I am very comfortable at this job. I know that. I am a little scared about leaving here and going somewhere else where there is even more work and the same type of environment. It's Hawaii, so there's always going to be a level of unethicality, and a crossing of boundaries and cliques. I guess it's probably like that everywhere.

Lanikai (Again)

Today we ran the loop again and I decided to time everyone. I ran it in 25:30. The other times were 27:43, 29:40, and 32:00. That way we all have a time to beat. I'm looking up a run for Saturday morning so we can mix it up. That website, mapmyrun.com is awesome. It has a whole bunch of runs that people have mapped out already and you can add in the one you've been doing. I did do pushups with Ananda and Karen after the run, so that's one of the two times I need to do pushups this week. I have been drinking an okay amount of water, but I still need to step it up. I realized at 5:20pm, right before we ran that I had only had a small glass of water. If I'm gonna be running that's not enough. I've been trying to drink decaf tea at work instead of diet coke or coffee. That will help a little.
Watched the Biggest Loser tonight, interesting show, they do a lot of cool stuff and lose a ton of weight. I wish they didn't vote each other off to win the game though. It seems like they should do something else, I don't know how, but after all the work they do to get voted off because you're the biggest threat (you're doing so well) seems counterproductive. Anyway, pretty cool show. I definitely liked seeing the "today" shots. Neat to see that they keep working after the show.
I was going to start putting less carbs on my plate starting with last night's dinner, but that didn't work out so well. Yesterday I had rice and today I had pasta. It was delicious, but it is bringing me down. Only because I can't handle my portion sizes, I end up eating way too much carbs.
Off to bed, will try to do something active tomorrow. (Oh yeah, I took Titus for a short hike yesterday and I think I'll do that again soon, it was fun)

Running

So we've been running for a few weeks now. It's feeling pretty good. I have to get new running sneakers soon. There has been a bunch of girls showing up to run on Mondays and Wednesdays. Karen, Helen, Denby, Jessica, and Ananda showed up yesterday too! It's really cool. I want to start upping the distance to 4 miles. I think after the running the loop a few times I'm feeling in shape enough to run the distance. I did not do 20 pushups last week, OOPS! I forgot I made that my goal. I did continue to drink more water. Stopping at the pullup bar has been good to focus me on doing more than just running and then going home and eating. We have been doing pullups and a few pushups and situps. My long-term goal for the end of this year is to get some nice abs, arms and legs. I lost a lot of weight this last year and now it's time to get some muscle. It's hard to make a goal that you can really say, yeah, my abs are nicer. I guess I want to be able to see my ab muscles by December 31.
Long-term goal- more muscles (that you can see) by December 31
Short-term goal for this week- Focus on smaller portion sizes for dinner.
Continue to hydrate and do pushups 2 times this week. (I'll say Wednesday and Saturday.)
I can't wait to hear Ananda's blog about her trip about healthy living where they fed her pastries for breakfast. She said she'd blog about it. I also want to hear this new diet that she's doing with her co-workers. It sounds hard, but if she sticks to it, I think she's gonna feel really strong and healthy. So, if Ananda doesn't blog soon let's all get on her!

Check In

Ran the loop tonight with Denby in 26:10. Afterwards we did some pull ups and push ups. I was able to do 10 freaking pushups. Goal for next week Wednesday is 20 pushups. Pullups I was able to do 5, but only 3 with my hands facing out. Next week Wednesday I want to be able to do 5 with hands facing out.
I have been drinking a lot of tea and water. The only problem with being really hydrated is having to pee ALL THE TIME.

Quick Run Check-in

Ran the loop today, it felt pretty good. Ran the loop itself in 25:42 which is a record for me. Then I continued on to the Kalapawai Market and back for 4 miles. I did it in 37:22.