Lunch Walk

Walked to the Farmer's Market and bought 10 pierogies. Walked to the ATM. Walked back to my desk. Total Workout: 0.75 miles in humid 80+ degrees.

New Miles: 0.75
Total Miles: 1482.25
Miles Remaining: 17.75
Weight: 133.0

Lunch Walk

Went out into the 80 degree day and walked 1.0 miles. At night coached

New Miles: 1.0
Total Miles: 1481.5
Miles Remaining: 18.5
Weight: 132.2

Lakecation Walks

Thursday, May 23 - Before leaving for vacation I measured out the walk to the local ice cream store, and it was a perfect 1.0 miles away. A great motivator for a walk was to the ice cream store for a vanilla malt milkshake. During the return walk back the motivator were the oncoming rain clouds. Toward the end it started drizzling but I beat the downpour back. Total Workout: 2.0 miles.

Friday, May 24 - In the afternoon Ryan said he wanted to walk with me. When we set out about 4 minutes later he was sluggish and said he was done after I said we'd walk half a mile and back. We turned around early but fortunately there was a house for sale past where we were staying so we walked the other direction for a little to check it out, and then back. That helped round out the mile. Total Workout: 1.0 miles.

Saturday, May 25 - Two of my friends and I headed out to the gift shop, which was a bit past the ice cream shop. It was a very brisk pace so a really hard workout. On the way back I had to pee and luckily there was a port-a-john at the ice cream store and we took a pit stop. Total Workout: 2.5 miles.

On Monday I had a debilitating migraine that left me sleeping and laying around all day trying to re-coup, but it continued on Tuesday. I made it thru work and then napped until Bridgette came over and we talked for a few hours.

New Miles: 2.0 + 1.0 + 2.5 = 5.5
Total Miles: 1480.5
Miles Remaining: 19.5
Weight: 135.4 on 5/27. ...But then because I was so migrainey and couldn't eat all day as well as my body just bouncing back from overeating for 5 days I weighed 133.4 on 5/28.

Bump in the Middle

After just a few hours on my feet my dogs were barking (or as I also say, my puppies were yapping) and I sat down for a number of minutes to relax. I knew I wanted to walk 1.5 miles though so I didn't let my tiredness deter me and I got onto the treadmill. I walked at 4.0 for most of my walk but then bumped it up to 4.1mph.

I listened to The Moth and played Solitaire and got pretty sick of Solitaire but really enjoyed The Moth stories.  Total Workout: 1.5 in 22:19 246cals 1%.

Also, as of last Wednesday I have formed a baby bump. The baby decided "Bam! Look at me!" and it popped itself out in my middle. So now I am into the new phase where I am starting to look pregnant. Well, more so just looking a bit awkwardly fat more so than pregnant. But I know it's a cute baby bump and that's really all that matters. Plus, if people think it's fat they won't touch me and I'm quite alright with not being touched by people.

New Miles: 1.5
Total Miles: 1475.0
Miles Remaining: 25.0
Weight: 133.2

Tired & Hungry

With temps in the upper 80s none of the kids wanted to run during soccer. Asking then telling then  getting them to do something was like pulling teeth, and unsuccessfully at that. The fastest they ran was for a water break. I survived 1.5 hours of that and then went home and walked. I was pretty tired from all the standing and pretty hungry from all the non-eating, but I went out on a walk anyways. I chugged along and did it in 15:57. Then I happily sat grabbed some food and sat on the ottoman. Then I pried myself up and did the dishes (fun!) before returning to the couch to catch up on my PBS shows.


New Miles: 1.0
Total Miles: 1473.5
Miles Remaining: 26.5
Weight: 132.4

Track Walk

Ryan went out to play music and I went to the track. I walked 3.0 miles in 56:01. Half way thru I took a water break, then after the next lap I took another one. Then I finished up my walk. I decided to try my foot at running a little, since I haven't tried that in a while - I did the 100m straight away down - took a wee break. Went back and rested 20 seconds. I did them in 26-28 seconds. Then after 2 more I was feeling good and figured why not make it so I ran half a mile. And so I did 4 more - seeing how running with some speed felt. And it felt almost completely fine - except for actually feeling my stomach area while running. I did the 3rd one in 25 seconds. For the final one I tried to go faster and I did that one in 22 seconds. I then thought about taking a bit of a cool down walk but felt like I was done, so I got some water and stretched out a few minutes and happily went home.

New Miles: 3.5
Total Miles: 1472.5
Miles Remaining: 27.5
Weight: 133.4

Slow Walking

During the hockey intermission Ryan and I went on a 1.0 mile walk. Ryan was very sluggish so the walk was a bit slow. And towards the end of the first half I just finished it up without him, turned around and walked back to him, then we walked home together.

New Miles: 1.0
Total Miles: 1469.0
Miles Remaining: 31.0
Weight: 132.4

Do By Doing

The "insight" of the day was that I can only "Do By Doing", that is, I can only accomplish my goal if I take action towards meeting my goal. Finishing up this journey by the end of next week is pretty much impossible at this point. But it would definitely be impossible if I don't get myself to cover some miles.

So after coaching soccer practice with temps in the mid-80s, and after taking out the recyling, I laid half on the ottoman and half on the couch for 20 minutes looking at Facebook. During that time I thought, "I should have been walking this whole time while I did this." And then I didn't move. I cued up my Coursera course, to stimulate my brain and offset the damage 20 minutes of Facebook did, and I watched a lecture. I started it and then said "Get up!" and I stood and walked to the treadmill and then started walking. I found a way to make myself do by doing. Total Workout: 1.0 miles 14:40 164cals 1%


I stopped and sat down again. When I got up to shower I realized my back was a bit sore, likely from all that standing, awkward laying, and walking. After my shower it felt so great to just sit on the couch and watch TV with Ryan, especially since I could rest easy knowing that I did something I needed to do.

New Miles: 1.0
Total Miles: 1468.0
Miles Remaining: 32.0
Weight: 131.8

Gallon Mile-in'

The evening sky was overcast and looked like it would rain any minute, but I checked the weather and it wasn't to rain til later. Ryan went running. I went walking - and I walked to the store, bought a gallon of milk, and walked home. So it was also a bit of weight training as I carried the milk half a mile, alternating hands every so often as my hands got cold.

New Miles: 1.0
Total Miles: 1467.0
Miles Remaining: 33.0
Weight: 130.2

Just a little bit

After soccer and eating some cereal, I got onto the treadmill and walked and listened to The Moth radio hour. After just under 1.25 miles I decided to jog, aka my new "running" speed, and I did that for just over half a mile. I jogged at 5.0 for a little them 5.5. Then I went back to my 4.1 mph walk. Total Workout: 2.0 in 26:55 324 cals 1%

New Miles: 2.0
Total Miles: 1466.0
Miles Remaining: 34.0
Weight: 129.8

Warm-up Walk

It was in the mid-50s and Ryan went on  3.0 mile run. My body didn't feel like running so I didn't even try. But once Ryan got home I did walk to go on a walk and he joined me -- mine was a warm-up walk and his was a cool-down walk.

We just walked the neighborhood and it was nice to walk and talk.

New Miles: 1.0
Total Miles: 1464.0
Miles Remaining: 36.0
Weight: 130.8

Log Jammed

1.0 and supposedly 69 degrees but really hot in the sun. Didn't wear a hat so it was super bright, my eyes were squinty, and it made my eyes tired. walked to try to work out some kinks in my neck/shoulder, but it didn't appear to help.

In the evening I planned on running, and to warm up and wait for Ryan I went out and started cutting the grass. There were dandelions everywhere and I got caught up in wanting to annihilate them so I went over the ones in the garden bed. And soon I heard a clunk and the lawn mower stopped working. Turns out I went over a 4 inch wide log and it was half-split between the blades. At this point Ryan was home so he helped with a mallet and a hatchet to dislodge it; and it half-worked. Then our smart neighbor Dave said we should just remove the bolts that held the blade on. Ryan said, "Well Dave, that would require using your brain." Turns out just removing the blade worked much better than trying to mallet and hatchet the wood. It was a good day for brains over brawn. After that Ryan finished cutting the grass, and by then both of us lost the steam on running. Plus my tummy was hurting and I just envisioned the baby just telling me it didn't want to run today.

And so eventually we went out on a 1.0 mile walk in 17:52 around the neighborhood. It felt good to do something, and my tummy cooperated. So I take that as feedback that the baby likes walking much more than running.

New Miles: 1.0 + 1.0 = 2.0
Total Miles: 1463.0
Miles Remaining: 37.0
Weight: 129.6

It All Works Out

After coaching soccer and definitely getting some sort of workout between laying out the cones then half-collecting them and kicking the ball and running for one drill I got home and drank some water and talked with Ryan. I was about to head upstairs and change when I remembered I should (and needed to) walk. So I put on my good running shoes and I grabbed the Kindle and cued up Pandora and I walked. I sang country songs while walking and it was actually taxing. I tool a quick pause at 1.25 for a few gulps of water and then walked again. Total Workout: 2.25 miles in 32:58 369cals 1%

New Miles: 2.25
Total Miles: 1461.0
Miles Remaining: 39.00
Weight: 129.6 (when I woke up) / 131.4 (evening post-dinner)

Making the Mow-st of It

Ryan left me dark and early for the Half Marathon (which he ended up running in a personal best 1:42:27!) and then came back for a few minutes before heading out to a co-ed flag football game. Given my free morning I ended up decided on mowing the grass with the new lawn mower. The mower is self-propelled which means it is so easy to cut the grass now as all I have to do is keep up with it rather than forcing it up hills. It took only 40 minutes to cut the front and back yards.

I wished I had had a step counter as I know the steps would have added up to perhaps 1.0 miles. But alas since I couldn't readily measure the distance I walked I can't count it. After that I went to my soccer game where we won but I got a tad sunburned, so I kind of lost. I wore my Gabriella maternity belt for back support which I think helped during the 2 hours of standing.

In the evening I had felt like I had worked out a lot during the day, and was sad I couldn't track anything about it. So I decided to walk to the store - where I coincidentally bought some candy - and then walked home. Total Workout: 1.0 in the delightful and warm evening.


New Miles: 1.0
Total Miles: 1458.75
Miles Remaining: 41.25
Weight: 129.6

Inconvenient Convention Center

After a day of running around errand-wise Ryan and I wrapped up our final errand in downtown Pittsburgh at the Convention Center getting Ryan registered for the Half Marathon. It tool a while to drive around the convention center and park, with the 1,000s of other participants all ambling for their packets as well. Once we parked we had to walk .25 miles from our car to the registration station. We had been standing in line for about 15 minutes when Ryan checked for his wallet. He didn't have it. Fortunately I was with him so I could easily walk back to the car and grab it (since we knew for sure it was there as I made him make sure he had his ID before we left home). This meant he didn't have to get out of line which was fortunate since the line was rather long and slow.

After grabbing his wallet I brought it back to him then walked around the Expo half-heartedly looking at the gear. The one thing of interest was that they finally took my suggestion and made Half Marathon gear. I complained the last few times that they only had Marathon gear and so I was pleasantly surprised to see some Half gear. The downside was I wasn't participating so buying 2013 Half gear would be silly. The other downside was that they had cool black-and-gold shirts, but in the women's gear they made it black-and-pink. I hate that they pinkify everything when they make it for women! I spent most of my life despising pink, and now I don't mind it and even like it. But for Pittsburgh-themed gear it is unacceptable to change it to black-and-pink. Or you can but also give me the option of black-and-gold.

After that mini-feud, which I did share with Ryan, and about 30 more minutes of waiting to complete the process we left - thus walking back to the car and giving me a 1.0 mile workout. The upside of all the walking was I got a measurable walk in and didn't waste a day not working out. I got home and used USATF to map my walk and confirmed I did at least 1.0 miles.

Total Workout: 1.0

New Miles: 1.0
Total Miles: 1457.75
Miles Remaining: 42.25
Weight: 129.6

Pregnant with No Energy

On Tuesday night Ryan told me that if I planned to run on Thursday he would run with me. I told him I did plan on running. On Wednesday afternoon he emailed me "RUN!" asking if I still planned on running. I said that I had been working on psyching myself up for it. Because my body feels so exhausted like I've been running and working out extensively, but all I've really done is sit still for long periods of time.

11:00 first mile, 1 min walk; just over 2.0 walked a minute up hill - saw a local cop who is our friend's dad. felt very drained. actually looked pregnant between my pregnantness and the horizontal tight striped shirt i was wearing.


Total Workout: 3.0 in 30:11

New Miles: 3.0
Total Miles: 1456.75
Miles Remaining: 43.25
Weight: 129.2